262 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



of thirty-seveu j'^ears, losino;- his life in a steamboat accident on the 

 Hudson in 1853, while helping- to save the lives of others; but his 

 work lives after him. His brother, Charles Downing-, followed in his 

 footsteps. He was not a g-enius like his brother, but one of these 

 careful, plodding- men who accomplish quite as much often as the 

 luen of genius. The Downing- strawberry comes from him, and he 

 is noted also in the cultivation of other fruits. Mr. Merrick's ideal 

 in life was to have a small house and a larg-e g-arden. Man was 

 originally placed in a garden to dress and keep it, but he thought 

 we were getting away from it. He paid a high compliment to the 

 directors of the experiment farm, and expressed great pleasure in 

 meeting with the society, saying he should bear good reports of the 

 great state of Minnesota to his eastern home. 



MR, A. G. WILCOX. 



Mr. A. G. Wilcox, of the "Northwestern Farmer," being called upon, 

 responded to the sentiment, "What we owe to our Pioneers in Horti- 

 culture," as follows : 



"A few years ago, a congressman from Texas electrified the coun- 

 try by asking the question, where are we at? The form of the ques- 

 tion was unique, but it was pertinent. On this occasion, it is perti- 

 nent to not only ask where we are at horticulturally, but how we got 

 there? Marvelous progress has been made. Fruit growing within 

 reasonable limits is aa assured success. A wise choice of varieties 

 and knowing how are the two requisites. It is true that there are 

 still many doubters, but the facts are the same. There are not only 

 great possibilities in fruit growing for the Northwest, but there are 

 great certainties. 



"To learn where we are involves taking an inventory of what has 

 been achieved. To learn how we reached the present stage of 

 progress calls for a review of historj^, and I believe that history will 

 credit the triumphs of the present to the plucky, persistent and un- 

 selfish efforts of the pioneers, who for long years groped their way 

 through the dark to some of the most remarkable successes the his- 

 tory of horticulture records. The good things of the garden, the 

 orchard have been slow in coming, but when we think it over we re- 

 alize that the fruits and vegetables of the present represent the 

 toil and thought of past generations. What years of patient experi- 

 ment lie between the wild potato and a 'Carmen.' What disap- 

 pointments have befallen those who transformed the wild rose into 

 the marvelous bloom of a Jacqueminot or the brilliant profusion of 

 a Crimson Rambler. How the wa}?^ from the bitter crab apple to the 

 'Duchess' or 'Wealthy' was strewn with dead apple trees and 

 blighted hopes. The best work of many lives is wrapped up in a 

 Marshall strawberry or a Parker Earle. All these wonders of mod- 

 ern horticulture are the heritage of the present, but they cost the 

 past dear in patient labor and study and trial. 



"The early situation in Minnesota was peculiar and the difficulties 

 apparently insurmountable. Nobody had blazed the waj'. Every- 

 body came from somewhere else. Those who tried the first experi- 

 ments in horticulture brought preconceived notions with them, and 

 the notions did not fit new conditions. Thev brought seed s of ten 



