REPORT OF EXECUTIVE BOARD. 19 



ive and instructive exhibitions of fruits and flowers; and to bring- 

 this prominently before the state fair board of tnanagers we would 

 recommend that a committee of three members be appointed to 

 present suitable plans and to urg-e upon them the propriety of 

 furnishing such a building. At my invitation, our secretary has 

 prepared the plan of a building such as we think would be admir- 

 ably adapted, that will be submitted to the inspection of members 

 present for their approval and friendly criticism. The erection of 

 this building- inay require the asking of some assistance by way of 

 a small appropriation from our state legislature, and, if so, we feel 

 assured that the State Agricultural Society will receive the hearty 

 co-operation of all the members^of this organization in working- 

 for this much desired object. 



We wish to call your attention to the beneficent influence exerted 

 upon the minds of the citizens of our state through the dissemi- 

 nation of the published essays and discussions brought out at our 

 annual winterand summer meetings, as published in our monthly 

 "Minnesota Horticulturist," under thejguiding hand and intelligent 

 direction of our most worthy secretarj^. 



The distribution of our published reports through the opportuni- 

 ties offered at our farmers' institutes is working a wonderful 

 amount of good for their betterment^in the home and on the farm. 

 The officers of this society are muchppleased with the hearty co- 

 operation received from the institute workers in helping- to place 

 before the minds of the people this horticultural knowledge that 

 they so much need. It is the hand to hand work done by our horti- 

 cultural lectures at the institute'.that is helping to bring this health- 

 giving industry prominently to the attention of the farmers and in- 

 dustrial classes of our state. This is not wholly a labor of love 

 without returning compensation, for our membership during the 

 year is materially increased by this kind of missionary work. 

 Along this line of thought we wish to call your attention to the idea 

 of procuring an attractive lithograph life membership certificate 

 which, neatly framed, which will serve as silent reminders of 

 our educative endeavors when hung in the parlors and living rooms 

 of our most energetic and progressive farmers. 



Permit me to make a few suggestions with reference to the prepa- 

 ration of our fruit list for the coming^year. We have made several 

 changes for improvement in the past, trying to aid and assist those 

 who were just beginning in fruit culture, but have not yet made the 

 lists specific enough to be adapted to all sections of our state. We 

 should at this session adopt some system of preparing fruit lists 

 that will in a measure prevent the wholesale swindling of our peo- 

 ple by unworthy and irresponsible tree peddlers in the selling of 

 nursery stock at exorbitantly high prices, wholly unfit for the 

 locality in which it is sold. Would it not be better to make a list of 

 fruits adapted to a certain group of counties; for instance, take a 

 portion in the southeastern part of the state and make a list speci- 

 ally adapted to that section, another list for the southwestern 

 counties, another list for the middle counties and still anotlier 

 for the northern counties. Each list would be modified to the re- 



