6 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



THE TWENTY-NINTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE MIN- 

 NESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



A. W. LATHAM, SECY. 



Through the hospitality of thecommissionera of Heunepin county, 

 this meeting- was convened in their rooms iu the new court-house, 

 which was just occupied. The accommodations consisted of three 

 rooms, that in which the sessions were held, which would seat com- 

 fortably perhaps 200 people, the room for the fruit exhibit and an 

 intermediate room found convenient as a cloak room and for the 

 overflow of the exhibit. The societ}' is under g-reat obligations for 

 the use of such eleg-ant quarters. If we are ever so fortunate as to 

 own a hall, such a one as our sessions were held in this j^ear would 

 be all or more than we could ask for. 



Perhaps the most noticable feature of the meeting was the exhibit, 

 consisting- mainly of apples, although probablj^ fifty plates of 

 g^rapes were shown and at least two varieties of peaches and several 

 plates of pears. The apple exhibit was far beyond any of our antici- 

 pations. About 116 named varieties were on the table, most being- 

 shown by several different exhibitors, and a large number of seed- 

 ling- varieties of which no accurate record was kept. A large por- 

 tion of the fruit had been preserved in cold storag-e, but a g-reat deal 

 came directly from the homes of the exhibitors and was apparently 

 in as good condition. Now that the feasibility of a winter show has 

 been demonstrated, there is no reason why this should not become 

 a permanent feature of our annual meeting-. A full list of the 

 awards appears in this issue. 



The sessions were well attended, the room being comfortably filled 

 most of the time, and sometimes would have been overcrowded had 

 it not been for the rival attraction of the fruit exhibit. 



With few omissions the program as arrang-ed was carried out. 

 All of the invited guests from abroad were in attendance, with the 

 exception of Prof. E. S. Goff, of Madison, Wis., whose uecessarj^ 

 absence was much reg^retted. The Wisconsin society was repre- 

 sented in the persons of Messrs. R. J. Coe, George J. Kellog-g-i 

 and the secretary of their society, Mr. A. J. Philips. There 

 presence added materially to the interest of the occasion. South 

 Dakota sent us the professor of horticulture from their state ex- 

 periment station, Prof. N. E. Hansen. We found his knowledge of 

 horticultural subjects of great advantage, and hope his nearness to 

 us may give us the opportunity of having his presence at all of our 

 gatherings. From the Iowa state sqciety came Mr. A. F. Collmau, 

 and from the Northeast Iowa society, Mr. Charles F. Gardner. These 

 gentlemen were both old acquaintances of many of our people, and 

 we were very glad to meet them again. All of the delegates from 

 abroad were made honorary members for one year. An honorary 

 life membership was conferred upon one of the oldest members of 

 our society, Mr. Amasa Stewart, formerly of Hennepin county but 

 now a resident of I^amarque, Texas, a well deserved recognition of 

 many years of useful labor iu horticultural interests in our midst. 



A detailed review of the meeting is unnecessary at this time, as 

 all of the papers and discussions connected therewith will appear 



