310 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAT. SOCIETY. 



grows upon the creeping- vine in the most inclement regions, vip 

 through the fruits of shrubs and trees of the temperate zone, to the 

 citrus, pomegranate and palm fruits of the tropics — all were there in 

 the greatest profusion. Fruits 



" From the proud trees whose heads the sky assails 

 To the lowly vine that loves the dales." 



When the Beneficent first chose a scene to occujDj-and develop the 

 moral and intellectual faculties of man and give him the most per- 

 fect enjoyment, he placed him in the garden of Eden. Refreshing 

 bowers and luxuriant verdure, a pure crystal stream, sweet frag- 

 rance and all manner of delicious fruits were the scenes of man's 

 first blessedness. The crowning glorj' of the World's Columbian 

 Exposition was the reproduction of the first Eden, and we predict 

 that it will be the beginning of a new and better era in the condi- 

 tion of the human race; that thousands who beheld the wonderful 

 sights and drank in the sj'lvan scenes have been inspired of the 

 amiable genius of Horticulture, and returned to their homes deter- 

 mined to improve and fashion them after the patterns of the lovelj' 

 scenes they beheld at the fair, and plant and raise more and better 

 fruit. Your verdict may be that we are a little visionary' in the mat- 

 ter of pomology. Please do not render it until we have finished our 

 plea, and give us the benefit of all extenuating circumstances. 



Our first, longest and strongest love has been horticulture. From 

 our earliest infancj', down through the years of our life (now almost 

 three score years and ten),pomolog5'has been our most fascinating 

 stud3^ For more than fortj" years we have pursued it with diligence 

 in the new Northwest, and that, too, under the greatest of difiiculties^ 

 and we have thought that we enjoyed it most where the obstacles 

 seemed most insurmountable. When the clouds were the thickest 

 and skies darkest, we saw bright gleams of hope bejond. Had that 

 not been so, after such a calamitj^ as overtook us in 1872-3, when 

 everything we had built vipon proved like a foundation of sand and 

 the work of twenty years vanished — not in the smoke of fire, but 

 went up in the most terrible blizzard that ever swept over this re- 

 gion — we should have turned our back upon Minnesota, shaken the 

 dust from our feet and journe3'ed to some more favored region 

 where others had demonstrated that fruit could be grown with cer- 

 tainty and with less labor. Those notions of ours that a pomologj- 

 could be created that would just fit Minnesota maj- have" been a little 

 cranky. 



It was our privilege to visit the fair in June, August and October, 

 and spend in all about thirty-five daj's. It was the one opportuuitj' 

 of our life to see, examine, handle, taste and compare the fruits of 

 North America and some other parts of the world, and make the ac- 

 quaintance of the leading- pomological spirits of this and other 

 lands. There were probablj- 2,0(X) varieties of apples shown, varying 

 in size from the Siberian crab, up to the mammoth pippins of nearly 

 two pounds weight; and of ever}' conceivable marking, from palest 

 green and yellow, through russet and almost inconceivable marking 

 of stripes and splashes of blush, pink and scarlet, to the darkest 

 purple reds; and ranging through the forms of oblate, ovate, round. 



