330 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



agent — and there are some such — is a kind of home missionary, but 

 be sure you have got hold of one of that sort. 



MANiTorjA Fruit FOR Our Winter Meetino. — Thos. Frankland, 

 of Stonewall, Manitoba, has assured us of an exhibit of promising 

 seedlings and hybrid apples and named plums from his section 

 for exhibition at our coming winter meeting. As many calls are 

 being made on him for specimens of this Manitoba fruit, he desires 

 announcement made to our membership of this proposed exhibit, 

 which will take the place of separate shipments. The fruit is to be 

 placed in cold storage here to preserve for the occasion. This will 

 be a ver}' interesting display and doubly so if accompanied by the 

 presence of Mr. Frankland, for whom we should have the warmest 

 greeting. 



A Gigantic Agricultural Index.— The Department of Agricul- 

 ture is planning, we understand, to issue soon an index of all agri- 

 cultural literature. If this plan is as comprehensive as it appears 

 to be and includes all literature of this character published in our 

 language, the result will be invaluable. There is a vast amount of 

 information locked up in the reports and treatises now published but 

 almost inaccessible by reason of the time required to look up any 

 given subject. This is such an enterprise as no one except the gov- 

 ernment can hope to carry out successfully, and if a small part of 

 the money now expended on garden seeds to enable congressmen to 

 keep in touch with their constituency is used in this work, it will be 

 a very wise diversion of the public funds. 



Death of Wm. E. Brimhall.— As the last form is going to press, 

 news is just received by letter from Mr. L. M. Ford, announcing the 

 sudden death of Mr. Brimhall, whose auto-biography and portrait 

 appeared in the last number. No particulars are at this time attain- 

 able. The preparation of the sketch of his life must have been one 

 of his last acts, and his portrait was evidently taken at about the 

 same time. This very unexpected news will sadden many hearts, as 

 Mr. Brimhall was a manwho made many warm and enduring friends. 

 At his age and under his circumstances the prospect of life seemed 

 to be long in that beautiful land of flowers and perpetual spring, 

 but he has passed over suddenl}^ to his longer and eternal home. His 

 active and kindly useful life is one which we may well emulate. 



Sub-Soiling in South Dakota.— Prof. N. E. Hansen, horticultur- 

 ist of the South Dakota Experiment Station, has just issued a bulle- 

 tin on this subject, condensing the reports from neighboring states 

 and then giving the results of many experiments in different parts 

 of his own state. He says: "Soils with a very hard subsoil are most 

 benefited, while soils with loose or gravelly sub-soils are some- 

 times injured. Sub-soiling makes the soil very loose, and if not fol- 

 lowed by rain sufficient to settle the soil before planting a lessened 

 yield generally results the first season. In other words, sub-soiling 

 deepens the reservoir, but moisture is needed to fill it and to restore 

 the capillarity between the stirred soil and the firm earth be- 

 neath, so that if fall sub-soiling is followed by a very dry winter no 

 benefit will be apparent, but the contrary." This would appear to 

 be a statement of the case in a nutshell. 



