260 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



AFTERNOON SESSl()N. 

 At 1:30 p. m. Presfdeut Underwood called the members and 

 guests together to listen to an informal program of brief speeches 

 and addresses. In introducing the speakers, the president spoke 

 of the pleasure it gave him to welcome the friends of horticulture 

 to the annual summer meeting, of the special value of gathering 

 at the state farm and watching from year to year the develop- 

 ments which come from the thoughtful care, energy, and spirit 

 •which prompts all interests there fostered, not the least of which 

 are the horticultural arts. At the winter meeting it is possible 

 only to place a few plates of fruit or vegetables on the tables for 

 exhibition, but meeting in the summer where everything that per- 

 tains to the special interests of horticulture ma}'' be seen in all of 

 nature's bounty, where we can go out among the trees and flowers, 

 into the orchards and berry patches, there is no better or more 

 practical way of getting others interested in our work. 



COL. W. M. LIGGETT. 



The first speaker was Col. W. M. Liggett, Dean of the Agricult- 

 ural College, who as a representative of that department of the 

 State University, presented greetings to the society, extending a 

 hearty welcome as well as the freedom of the grounds. Congra- 

 tulating the society on the truth of the secretar5''s prediction re- 

 garding the good weather that uniformly attends its gatherings 

 he spoke of the auspicious outlook for the societ}^ and exf)re6sed 

 the hope that everything would continue so, and of the special 

 pleasure afforded in meeting such pioneers as Col. Stevens, Mr. 

 Harris, Mr. Grimes and others present. The speaker spoke of his 

 former lack of faith in the development of the horticultural in- 

 terests of the state, but having seen the forests growing up on 

 our prairies and having studied the reports of this society he 

 began to appreciate more and more the value of its work, and 

 now, although they had given welcome to over four thousand 

 farmers at the state farm school during the past year, he did not 

 know of any organization entitled to a more cordial welcome than 

 this society. And although all their guests had expressed ap- 

 proval of the work accomplished, yet before him were those 

 who had stood by the institution in all its vicissitudes, who would 

 always be held in grateful remembrance, and he hoped that all the 

 summer ineetings might be held at the farm school grounds. 



PROF. W. \V. PENDERGAST. 



Prof. W. W. Pendergast, an old member of the society, res- 

 ponded to this greeting in his usual genial way. He said: "It 

 gives me great pleasure to be here today, as it is always a source 

 of delight to meet the brothers and sisters of the great horticult- 

 ural society of Minnesota, and I want to thank Col. Liggett for 

 his cordial greeting and words of appreciation. From his re- 

 marks he has shown that, whatever in the past he has thought of 

 the horticultural prospects of the state, he sees now that there is 

 some use in trying over and over again. Our strawberries have 

 died out, trees blighted and many misfortunes been undergone 



