46 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



sake of variety crumbs were dealt out to those of us belong-ing^ 

 to the opposite class. The mayor, in referring- to the prosperity of 

 Osage, said that prohibition had been a paying- investment finan- 

 cially, morally and intellectually, and he pointed with pride to their 

 empty jails, prosperous churches and schools, beautiful streets and 

 well kept lawns, fine residences and happy homes, as proof of his 

 assertions. 



''I am so well pleased with Osage and its surroundings that I feel 

 like giving it a sort of personal parting salute. O, Sa^e of Iowa! 

 Keep thy girdle well about thee! Fence out hell and enjoy heaven! 



"I hope I have not intruded much on the province of your repre- 

 sentative, F. W. Kimball, who with pencil in hand was a very close 

 observer. 



Owatonna, Dec, 1896. E. H. S. Dartt." 



From The Red Rivcr Valley:— 



"I have already over three hundred and fifty trees in apples and 

 plums planted, and the last year they made an admirably fine 

 growth in spite of the fact that the rabbits managed a good many 

 of them, especially the small J^trees or the lately planted ones; and 

 some of the plum trees would have borne fruit this summer 

 again had we not had the hail-storm, which stripped even the cur- 

 rants. But wild plums were a heavy crop, and jwild grapes the 

 same, and some nice apples and crabs were raised outside the limit 

 of the hail storm. I had again this fall done up my trees iu very 

 good shape, both for winter protection and against the ravages of 

 the rabbits and the hares, or what is called the jack rabbits, that 

 roam on the prairies in this valley; but this snow-storm we had on 

 the 26th ult. raised the snow in among iny trees nearly three to four 

 feet in some places. Then these big jack rabbits got in their work; 

 they reached right on the top of them, right after the first lull in the 

 night, and, in the morning when I came out to look after my trees, 

 found nearly every tree eaten up on the top. Not onlj^ the top or 

 last year's growth was eaten or gnawed off, but the two years g-rowth 

 was gone. I wanted to wrap them in newspaper, but as the weather 

 was bitter cold I had other things to look after and had to dig 

 out my traps, which were several feet below in the snow-drifts, and 

 were to be left out for the night with oats to catch them in. I caught 

 only two the first night, but now I am getting them. Tonight, just af- 

 ter supper, I went out and g-ot three of these very ones, one weighing- 

 fourteen and one-half pounds, and the others nearlj^ as mtich, thej'^ 

 are really small dogs. They will reach fully three feet and more from 

 the snow upon the tree, and they not only eat so much but cut the 

 limbs off and let them lie down around the tree, not touching them 

 anymore, and go along that way for the w^hole night, and a big raft of 

 them that way soon destroys a big lot. I was fully prepared to bu3^ 

 chicken netting and to fence in the three acres already planted, but 

 now I don't see as this helps any. When a big snow like this comes, 

 it would not matter much, as it will drift down and the hares will 

 get ever them. 



"Then we have the small rabbits; they have got so thick here latel}"- 

 that I don't see how they could have multiplied in such a number. 

 They seem to have migrated at the same time as the rats came, as 

 they never were here before the last three years. But now it seetus 

 that everybody has got them, and plenty of them, too. 



Hendrum, Minn., Dec. 1, 1896. OLE J. Hagen." 



