440 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



procure a larger and finer plum than the Japan. Mr. Patten thinks 

 the Russian plums worthless for his section. 



Edson Gaylord in a paper on "Tree Protection" emphasized the 

 need of protection for the orchard from the sun rather than from 

 cold winds; would allow the trees to branch well on the south side 

 that they may be self-protectinf^; mulch the orchard heavMly and 

 cultivate four inches deep between the rows two or three times 

 each season. 



The next meeting;- of the society will be at Plampton. 



PLEASANT WORDS BOR THE MINNESOTA STATE 

 AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL.' 



Mr. J. S. Harris and myself had the pleasure of spending- a day at 

 the State Agricultural School the twenty-second instant. This is a 

 visit that has been thought of often, but as often postponed, but 

 now that it is accomplished the only regret is that so keen a pleas- 

 ure had not been eujoyed before. The sight of 175 earnest young 

 men gathered in the chapel is one long to be reinembered. 



This school has grown remarkably, having an average increase 

 of about thirt)' per cent, per annutn. I do not know the exact num- 

 ber, but remember otil}^ two or three years since its being- spoken of 

 as having- an attendance of forty or fifty. The building-s and ac- 

 commodations on the place for the various branches of stud}^ pur- 

 sued include the workshops for blacksmithing and carpentering, 

 the drill hall, the barns devoted to cattle husbandrj^ and veterinary 

 surgery, the dair}', the greenhouses, the two or three large build- 

 ings devoted to general classroom and dormitory purposes, the 

 chemistry building and others, which make an equipment that to 

 an amateur seems very complete. With the number of students in 

 attendance, however, it is a]jparent that everything is crowded to 

 its utmost capacity. Indeed, when two well grown bo^^s sit on a 

 seat designed for one person, as was the case a score of times in the 

 chapel, it is apparent that something must be done at once to in- 

 crease the accommodations, or else to discourage the attendance. 

 The farmers' boys are evidentlj' bound to come, and the girls are 

 wanting a chance, too, and ought not to be shut put. We saw plans, 

 preliminary sketches, for a new central bnilding designed to meet 

 the more immediate wants of the school. B^- all means the present 

 legislature should look after the educational wants of the farmers' 

 sons. 



Horticulture is, of course, well represented in this school, both in 

 the experimental fields and in the classroom. Prof. S. B. Green 

 has a very pleasant classroom, seating about sixty-five, and it was 

 our privilege to see it full; and Mr. Harris had an excellent op- 

 l>ortunity there to talk some straight horticulture to the bo3's, which 

 they evidently appreciated. 



Dear friends of the State Horticultural Society, visit this school; 

 it will do 3'ou good. You will come away, I am sure, from a day 

 spent tliere some years younger, and the reflex influence of your 

 presence and the few words you may say for our cause will have an 

 excellent effect on the work in Minnesota in which we are so much 

 interested. ' A. W. Laiiiam, Secret:iry. 



