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322 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
and an honest man, then he turned tramp and was sent to jail, 
and the last he heard of him he was practicing law in Texas. 
(Great laughter.) I do not know that I need to apologize for 
practicing law, but 1 want you to understand that I have not 
always been a lawyer. 
I have addressed many different kinds of associations upon the 
subject of highway improvemént but have never addressed one 
which seems to me should be more actively interested in the ques- 
tion than this association. There are two principal reasons why 
you would naturally be more interested in this question than 
agriculturists generally. 
The first reason is that you area better educated class of men than 
the average farmer is, and it is always to the more intelligent and 
educated that we must look for an appreciation of any good thing. 
For fear that you may think that Iam trying to flatter you, I desire 
to add here that I consider flattery a sort of flapdoodle which pleases 
none but fools, and no one but a fool would offer it to an intelligent 
audience, and to further convince you that I don’t mean to flatter 
you, I will say that: while I think you more intelligent than the 
average farmer, I do not think you are the most intelligent audience 
Iever addressed. I had the honor of addressing the Minneapolis 
City Council once (Laughter), and they have all been bright enough 
to keep out of Stillwater, which is saying a good deal if half that is 
told about them is true (Laughter). Ofcourse this remark does not 
apply to our honored brother, Elliot. It requires no particular 
brilliancy for such menas he and [areto keep out of jail. Seriously 
speaking then, this is the principal reason I expect you to be inter- 
ested in this subject. 
The second reason is that operating in the country as most of you 
necessarily do, you are obliged to use the highways in your busi- 
nes. Your products are of a perishable character, as we say in law. 
That is, they spoil quickly and become unmerchantable. It becomes 
important then that you should not only be able to take a large 
load to market, but if the road is not reasonably smooth the jolting 
will injure your crop onthe way. Not only do you need to haula 
large load without any more jolting than necessary, but you need 
to go to market quickly. Noris this all. A road may be such that 
part of the time you can haul a large load quickly and smoothly 
and yet the road become bad when you need to use it most, just 
when you have a large perishable crop on hand. You cannot afford 
to have the marketing of your crop depend on so uncertain a thing 
as the weather. A farmer can put his wheat in the granary and 
wait until the roads dry up. He may lose considerable on the price, 
it is true, but you not only lose the high price but your whole crop 
besides if the road becomes impassable when your crop is ready 
for market. Thisis particularly true in Minnesota where the greater 
part of the horticulturist’s crop consists of fruit and vegetables 
which will not keep. 
