36 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
x 
work done at these stations is not generally understood but is be- 
coming more and more apparent as planters visit these grounds 
and profit by their teachings. 
This work could with profit be extended so that plantings under 
_direction of our experiment station should be made on the grounds 
of all our state institutions, planting shade and ornamental trees, 
etc. where they were needed, and fruits where they could be cared 
for by the inmates andattendants. This could also extend tocounty ~ 
poor farms, supplying those dependents with the luxuries of fruit, 
flowers, etc., at scarcely no expense, and also extend the good work 
of these stations. 
In this report I shall not attempt to follow their work in detail or 
as presented by their program, knowing that their methods of in- 
struction, varieties, etc., etc., might be dangerous or unprofitable 
for us in Minnesota. I also refrained from offering any of our 
methods or varieties to them, remembering what a southern man 
said in our meeting a year ago in connection with insane asylums 
Your delegate was made an honorary member of the Iowa 
Horticultural Society for one year by a unanimous vote of its mem_ 
bers present—also very cordially and royally entertained at the 
Kirkwood hotel, one of the best in the capital city. The meeting 
was held in the Capitol, in rooms belonging to the society. I must 
say I was much impressed with the magnificence and architectural 
beauty of that building, which covers one and one-half acres of land 
and cost about $3,000,000, suggestive of the wealth and enterprise of 
the state. 
The address of President Powell came early on the program and 
contained many valuable and practical suggestions and recom- 
mendations, some of which I will note as worthy of our considera- 
tion. 
He stated that only 1 to 4,000 in the state had their names on the 
membership rolls of horticultural societies and suggested that a 
special effort be made to interest the young of both sexes. Instead 
of offering large premiums to skilled exhibitors, a part of the money 
should be used as premiums to secure papers and essays on horti- 
cultural matters from the young people,some to be read at thestate 
and local meetings; also that special premiums should be offered 
amateur fruit growers under twenty-one years of age. 
He also congratulated the state for its effort in securing a place 
for its girls in the School of Agriculture. Sec. Wilson said: “The 
teachers of domestic science are not content to follow a dull routine 
of household drudgery in their teachings; they are appealing to the 
scientists and specialists in lines which touch the home life to ex- 
plain the principles on which home practices should rest and to 
show them how intelligence, taste and skill can make the home a 
pleasant place to live in, and how scientific knowledge can enable 
the home maker to maintain the health and generally promote the 
physical well being of those committeed to her charge.” He also 
called the attention to the need of a text book on horticultural sub- 
jects, to be used in schools and recommended one in preparation by 
F. E. Pease, formerly of Rochester, Minn.,a product of our state. 
