THE MINNESOTA 
HORTICULTURIST. 
VOL. 26. OCTOBER, 1898. No. 10. 
HORTICULTURE AT THE MINNESOTA STATE FAIR 
\ IN 1898. 
A. W. LATHAM, SEC’Y. 
Horticulture as a factor in the annual agricultural fair of our 
state has taken great strides the past few years. At the beginning 
of this decade the fruit exhibit occupied only a portion of one 
corner of what was then called Agricultural Hall. Last year, it will 
be remembered, this department was increased to include about 
three-fourths of the hall, but its rapid development demanded 
further extension this year, and, with the exception of a part of one 
side, the whole hall was taken up by the show of fruits and flowers. 
There was, indeed, sufficient fruit on exhibition to have filled the 
entire space had it been arranged in the customary way. In 
order to make table room to accommodate the anticipated extent of 
the exhibit, portable shelves were constructed to be placed over the 
fruit tables. Two out of the three tables in the north end of the 
hall were surmounted in this way by another table, slightly nar- 
rower. On these tables and shelves was spread an astonishing 
array of apples, grapes and plums, aggregating in all the unexpec- 
ted total of 5,300 plates, which is practically twice as much as has 
ever before been shown at our state fair. Not all of this large num- 
ber of plates belonged to the competitive exhibit, however. About 
1,000 plates were shown by the Jewell Nursery Co. in connection 
with their commercial display and a few hundred by the manage- 
ment on the World’s Fair booth. The balance belonged to the com- 
petitive exhibit and made a wonderful array. A gentleman who 
has had much opportunity for observation said it was the finest 
display of fruit he had ever seen. Probably he did not visit the 
horticultural department at the World’s Fair, but fora state that 
has the reputation of being a non-fruit producing state, it was cer- 
tainly an astonishing revelation. 
The exact totals of the different classes of fruit as procured by 
careful computation are as follows: apples, 3,523 plates; grapes, 557; 
plates; plums, 230; total, 5,301. This shows a small increase in the 
plum exhibit, and something over 200 plates increase in grapes, the 
