SUMMER MEETING, 1897. 263 



der plants which did not thrive. They sent east for the fruits and 

 flowers that jewelled their old homes, and when these died j'oung- 

 the conviction was solid that it was of no use to trj^ again. With the 

 majority, there was only one 'can' aud that was wheat. Every man 

 who has won a place in the front rank of experts in the garden aud 

 orchard, has reached it through a storm of ' cau'ts.' It was admit- 

 ted that wheat would grow. It was denied that anything else would 

 grow. Strawberries could not be produced; raspberries would 

 freeze out; blackberries would die the first winter; plums and cher- 

 ries were impossibilities; as for apples, hadn't they been tried? 

 Corn, clover aud cattle were black listed, pigs could not live with- 

 out corn, and so on through a long and appalling list of "can'ts. 



"A man must have plenty of the stuff heroes are made of to follow 

 an idea to its conchision, surrounded by incredulous neig'hbors, 

 doubting friends and carping relatives, down to cousins and cous- 

 ins-in-law, aud probably a mother-in-law, all of whom agree that he 

 is going to the dogs and taking his family with him by the shortest 

 possible cut; and to keep right on, year after year, amid discourage- 

 ments and failures that give neighbors, friends and the mother-in- 

 law the best excuse for sa3'^ing, 'I told you so.' 



"But among the pioneer horticulturists of Minnesota there were a 

 few men of this very heroic stuff, who never lost faith, and never 

 ceased to preach and practice the gospel of our art. The long road 

 to success was strewn w*ith failures, but they marched over it with 

 courage and persistence, sufiScient to equip an army for the con- 

 quest of a kingdom. In the face of ridicule, in the face of failure, 

 many of them in poverty, they have won recognition and success. 

 They are not rich nor widely famous; thej'^ can not endow universi- 

 ties like a Rockefellow or found libraries like a Carnegie, but they 

 have left us an heritage of inestimable value. 



"It was one of the philosophers who said tiiat he who makes two 

 blades of grass grow where only one grew before is a benefactor to 

 mankind. Grass is good, good for cows and sheep and pigs, and 

 when they have worked it over in their inarvelous mills, we do not 

 refuse the golden butter, the juicy chop or the fragrant sausage. 

 But if the blade of grass counts for so much when good acts are 

 weighed, what shall we jjlace to the credit of the man who creates a 

 new and luscious fruit, the best of God's material gifts to man? The 

 doctors are good fellows; we all like them; they are vvitli us at both 

 ends of our earthly course; but give us plenty of fruit, aud between 

 times we could get along without them, throw physic to the dogs 

 aud let them die of it, and die of old age ourselves. They say no 

 lover of fruit ever can have the drink habit, and I believe it. Plenty 

 of fruit means health, sound digestion, a level head, a clear con- 

 science and a warm heart. 



"We are shj' of giving due credit to men who are alive, but let us 

 not be too slow in acknowledging the debt we owe to the few heroic 

 spirits whose patient work for thirty years has made it possible for 

 an}^ farmer to grow strawberries, raspberries, currants, delicious 

 plums and choice apples under the conditions that prevail on the 

 ordinary farm in the Northwest. When one of these pioneers of the 



