ANNUAL MEETING, 1894. 511 



• 



there by some friends to look at that great natural wonder. They 

 pointed out the grandeur and the beauty of the falls, expecting to 

 draw out some exclamation of wonder or admiration, but he looked 

 at it as unconcerned as if it was an every day sight. Finally, they 

 took him down at the foot of the falls and let him look vip. They said, 

 •'Just look up at that great mass of water coming down. Is it not 

 wonderful?" "Yes, I am looking at it, but don't see anything grand 

 or wonderful about it." They said, "Look at it again, look at that 

 water coming right out of the clear sky." "Yes, that is a fact, but 

 what in thunder is to hinder it?" (Laughter.) So when they talked 

 to me about raising fruit in California it did not excite my admira- 

 tion at all. I told them they did not have to have the perseverance 

 and intelligence that our horticulturists in Minnesota had. I said, 

 "It is worth something- to grow fruit in that country of ours. It does 

 not mean anything at all to grow it here. Every fruit and flower 

 means something in Minnesota. It means an iminense amount of 

 industry and intelligence has been expended to grow them." They 

 took me into a place in Fresno and showed ine a museum of fruit. It 

 was wonderful — great piles of pears like squashes, peaches like 

 pumpkins — but I have no adiniration for it at all, 



I listened to a paper here the other day by Mr. Akin, and he spoke 

 of the flavor of the fruit you grow here; and I want to say that nowhere 

 have I tasted fruit that can compare in flavor with that grown here. 

 There is no excellence without great labor, and it is because you are 

 compelled to put this intelligence, this patience, this application into 

 fruit growing here, whj^ the quality is so good. Where men grow up 

 without any effort they never amount to anything. We can have 

 nothing good without effort. I am proud of the fruit grown in this 

 state, proud of what you are doing to grow that fruit, and if there is 

 anything I can do personally or through my paper to co-operate 

 with you and help on the good work you are trj^ng- to do here in 

 Minnesota, I will gladly do so. I thank you kindly for j^our attention. 

 (Applause.) 



The committee on legislation, through Wyman Elliot, reported as 

 follows: 



Mr. President, we have only a report to make, just a mere mention, 

 I might say, just to let you know that we have not forgotten you. 

 The conunittee on legislation has to report that the demands for 

 diffusing knowledge of horticulture to the people of our state are 

 increasing each year, and we need means to accomplish that end, 

 but we scarcely feel as if our society should take action towards 

 asking an increased appropriation from the next legislature in view 

 of the prospect of there being much larger demands upon our state 

 treasury for money in other directions, coupled with the present 

 financial stringency. 



Mr. Harris: I believe this financial embarrassment is one of the 

 levers we ought to use to induce the legislature of our state to give 

 us an increased appropriation. The amount of fruit grown in this 

 state amounts to more than it would cost to run this horticultural 

 society for ten thousand years. If we had the means and could 

 bring this knowledge before the people, they could raise annually 

 thousands of dollars more than this appropriation would amount to, 

 and I do not think the hard times ought to cut any figure against 

 our urging the claims of the people of Minnesota in the next 

 legislature. . 



President Underwood: I will say, ladies and gentlemen, that I am 

 opposed to this consideration of hard times. I did not expect, for 



