428 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



There was the "Harvey" apple in the lower orchard, being' the 

 particular property' of inj^ grandfather, reaching the maturity and 

 full richness of its flavor about midwinter, and doled out to us boj-s 

 only on some great occasion or as reward for extraordinary^ good 

 conduct. Then there was the ''Moll}^" tree behind the cider house, 

 named for a maiden aunt of a previous generation, known to all the 

 boys for miles around, and few of whose apples ever got into the 

 cellar. There was the "Moulton" apple in the upper orchard and 

 the "Long Stems" behind the barn and the "August Beauties" in the 

 little field, but space forbids repetition. 



The first settlers of that region must have delighted in the plant- 

 ing of apple trees, for they not onlj^ created orchards but continued 

 the planting along the stone walls, by the road sides and the lanes 

 leading to the pastures. 



Oh! the beaut}' and fragrance of those trees in bloom! and what a 

 spectacle at autumn gathering! 



Mr. President, such memories are a pleasant heritage and one of 

 such scenes iria}' have lingered uppermost in Wordsworth's recollec- 

 tion when he penned the incomparable "Old Oaken Bucket." No- 

 tice that he mentions first the orchard: 



"How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood, 



When fond recollection presents them to view, 

 The orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wildwood, 

 And every loved spot that mine infancy knew." 



Apples are the favorites of mankind; every eye covets and every 

 hand reaches to thein, and we may as well remember that by this 

 fruit Adam is supposed to have lost his inoral standing. 



But aside from the fruit, the trees themselves — what giants they 

 were! And, Mr. President, what a glorious object the tree! How 

 inagnificent is a forest of them on plain or hillside! And the single 

 tree, there is scarcely its match for beauty among unintelligent ob- 

 jects on the face of the earth. Solitary, or in the row or group, 

 planted b}' human hands, or spared b}' them from ordinary exter- 

 mination near the abode of man, how "expressive and admirable!" 



Hitherto, with comparativelj' few exceptions where fortunate 

 locators obtained timber claims, the exigencj-'of creating natural 

 windbreaks at the soonest possible time has led our people of this 

 country to largely surround their dwellings and other farm build- 

 ings with rapid-growing soft trees. But that inore ornamental and 

 valuable trees will sooner or later be substituted, not only to sur- 

 round our farm buildings but as well to shade our highways, is 

 not an unreasonable expectation. And would it not be a part of the 

 proper mission of this society to encourage and teach such substi- 

 tution and use? Visionary, say jou? Not more so I think than 

 some of the schemes advocated in the good roads convention of re- 

 cent memor}'. 



Experiment begets success. I remember twent}' or more years 

 ago when there was a popular doubt as to whether evergreens 

 could be successfully grown in this locality. That Mr. Ellis' were 

 doing so well was said to be owing to either some peculiarity of 

 soil quite uncommon hereabouts or method of cultivation which 

 the public could not get on to. Today the term is applied to one of 



