446 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



WIND. . 



E. H. S. DARTT, OWA'IOXXA. 



Everj' since the breath of life was breathed into man and he be" 

 came a living- soul, wind, or air in motion, has been to him a prime 

 necessity, without which he cannot exist. Wind is life, the absence 

 of it is death. If we shut wind from a congregation of people, we 

 sow the seeds of death by instituting lung starvation with resultant 

 diseases. If we shut wind out of the orchard in summer time, we 

 cause lung starvation there ; for trees in leaf are said to breathe, and 

 when thej' have absorbed all the life-giving elements within their 

 reach, they sicken, and sometimes die, of blight, sun-scald and mil- 

 dew, diseases which might have been averted by a free circulation 

 of air. If we shut out wind in winter, we shut off a source of actual 

 heat. Obstructed wind creates friction, and friction creates heat. 

 The orchard can no more thrive without wind than the saloon can 

 thrive without boj'S. 



I have not had time to figure out just how rapidly the mercurj' will 

 rise in an orchard subjected to a wind of thirt}' miles per hour ; but 

 I have always noticed that the heat of discussion always keeps pace 

 with the amount of wind let loose. We always have a windj' time at 

 our meetings, and sometimes the heat of discussion is enough to 

 warm up a whole neighborhood. We all have windmills here, and 

 the wind is tempered by the kind of mill it passes through. Elliot's 

 mill is probably the best mill we have. It is perfect in construction, 

 is kept well oiled, runs still and is alwaj'^s ready for quiet, forcible 

 business. It enables him to have his own way without inaking any 

 fuss about it. Now, if we see anything moving smoothlj^ along in 

 the horticultural line without any apparent guiding hand, like the 

 fishpole cars, we ma}-^ safely calculate that Elliot is not far off nod- 

 ding consent. We would all like the Elliot inill ; it would save us 

 lots of trouble; but if we all had it, it would become too common 

 and too monotonous, and we might sigh for the clatter of more noisj' 

 structures; for, truly, variety is the spice of life. 



Latham and Underwood have mills of the Elliot pattern. Latham 

 is studying on attachments, and Underwood has decided to attach 

 a crank to his as an evidence of his political faith — I advise all of 

 you to hitch on a crank. Smith's inill is an all around mill ; that is, 

 it is adapted to all kinds of work. Its power is unquestioned, and it 

 is always readj'. If it ever run down, I have not heard of it. It is a 

 handy mill to have around, for if we get becalmed, we can just xxntie 

 Smith's machine, and we are all right. 



The Brand mill nears perfection in all its parts. It is automatic, 

 will blow cold or blow hot, run fast or run slow, as occasion requires. 

 It is ainusing to see the apple list go through this mill. Starting in 

 on Russians, it will scarcely move and emit a cool breeze; as it 

 comes to seedlings, it quickens and warms up, and when it comes 

 to Peerless it goes off with a clatter and runs like lightning. 



The Harris mill is an all around mill like Smith's, and a little more 

 so. Power not sufficient for size of the mill. We have sometimes 

 thought Harris long-winded. That is because liis mill is so large 



