112 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



make beet sugar at a profit. This subject is attracting' much atten- 

 tion at this time in Wisconsin, and the outcome of experiments in 

 progress there will be watched with much interest. It seems to 

 your delegate that the results of the analyses of sugar beets at the 

 Minnesota Experiment Station should be more generally known. 

 About eleven hundred analyses have been made there, and they 

 show plainly that in per cent of sugar, puritj^ of juice and yield per 

 acre that Minnesota can raise sugar beets against the world in qual- 

 ity- and that this question is no longer an experimental one from the 

 scientific side, but purely a business proposition as to whether it 

 will pay to do so. 



Professor Goff discussed the pruning of plants in a very entertain- 

 ing manner, treating the subject under the four heads: (1) formative, 

 (2) stimulative, (3) protective and (4) maturative pruning. He 

 touched on the subject of girdling and said it had been practiced in 

 the island of Zante for 2,000 years. 



Mr. Hoxie read a paper on the forestry question in Wisconsin. He 

 said the law against forest fires in that state had not been a success 

 on account of the ver}'^ small appropriation available. He quoted at 

 length from the first report of the Minnesota fire warden. 



In a report from Dorr county, which is known as the Sturgeon Bay 

 section, I was impressed with the favorable conditions there existing 

 for the .growing of fruits. Cherry trees in good condition, twenty- 

 eight years old, were reported, and the Green Gage plum was referred 

 to as one of the best for planting there. 



Mr. A. L. Hatch spoke on the fruit prospects of the Sturgeon Bay 

 section. He urged neighborly co-operation in buying and selling 

 and gave an instance where by co-operation with his neighbors he 

 secured lower prices so that in one season his neighbors had saved 

 $400.00, and he had saved $300.00. He referred to the depressed price 

 of horticultural products during the past few years, and yet he felt 

 that they had been as profitable as any class of crops. 



Mr. Heartwell, the president of the Northern Illinois Horticultural 

 Society, said that the people in his section were discouraged in 

 raising apples and were watching the Wisconsin experiments along 

 this line with much interest. 



After much discussion the society decided to issue the "Wiscon- 

 sin Horticulturist" the coming year, to be charged to members at 

 cost. This publication is issued in addition to the annual report 

 and cost the societj^ about $300.00 last year. 



On Thursday evening, Dr. Lugge . gave a very instructive talk in 

 the senate chamber on the subject of injurious insects, which was 

 finely illustrated bj^ a stereopticon. 



Wednesday evening, your delegate was not present but learned 

 that the session was made up of papers by the students in the short 

 course at the university. Your delegate also had the pleasure of 

 looking over the fine horticultural building on the grounds of the 

 State University with Professor Goff and of noting his methods of 

 instruction. A very interesting experiment was in progress in the 

 greenhouse in the watering of tomatoes, which seemed to show 

 great advantage from sub-watering. 



