220 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Though oft at work till "Midnight," my pen lies idly by, 

 'Tis o'er the endless "Must be done's" the fleeting moments fly; 

 And from "Merry May" till "Easter" I can with safety say, 

 No busier women can be found in all "America." 



P. S.- 



In looking o'er mj' letter I see that you may find 



An undercurrent of complaint, — I meant nothing of the kind; 



Indeed, I would not now exchange my rural situation 



For anj' phase of city life, no matter ■what the station. 



Society we call the best— I know it well of yore- 

 Contains a class of "borers" far worse than "currant bore;" 

 You cannot clip them off with shears and burn as we do ours, 

 You have to let them hang about and sap your mental powers. 



It has its swarms of useless "moths" worse than our "cabbage flies" 



You cannot send them on their way with pepper in their eyes; 



It has a host of parasites, the worst you'll ever find, 



You cannot dose with Paris Green or something of the kind. 



It has its Black Rot, Blight and Curl— its Mildew is in sight— 

 We vise fresh lime and vitriol to set these matters right; 

 It has its hail storms, drouglit and frost, which prej' upon the heart. 

 These latter come to every life, they are of life a part. 



But in this busy, quiet place, whatever ills may come. 



Their blackening shadows do not spread far from my humble home; 



And so my forced seclusion from April to December, 



Affects or injures no one else except your country member. 



REPORT ON SMALL FRUITS. 



M. CUTLER, PRINCETON, MINN. 



Owinj^ to my short residence in this part of Minnesota, I have lit- 

 tle to report on the subject assigned to me by your committee. 

 Nearly all the old settlers of this county were lumbermen from 

 Maine and paid little attention to the cultivation of the soil. Of 

 those who have more recently settled here, the majority have given 

 their attention to the cultivation of potatoes, onions and other vege- 

 tables, with great success, as demonstrated by our wonderful ex- 

 hibit at the recent state fair. But little attention has been given to 

 the cultivation of small fruits yet, but as nearly all kinds are found 

 growing in abundance in a wild state, I have no doubt the time will 

 soon come when northeastern Minnesota will be as famous for big 

 berries as it is now for big potatoes and onions. 



I have observed one thing here, and that is this, that few wild rasp- 

 berries, gooseberries or high bush blackberries are found growing 

 on the sandy land, but on clay land slashings where once grew the 

 stately oak, maple, basswood, etc. Blueberries and dewberries are 

 growing in abundance on the poor sandy land where flourish the 

 jack pine and oak. Following nature's indications, I selected mixed 

 land and now have a fine half acre of strawberries and a few black- 

 berry and raspberry bushes, and should the coming season be fav- 

 orable I hope to give you a good report one j^ear from now. 



We have a few beekeepers here. A Mr. Gerth, got 0,000 pounds of 

 honey the past season, and has over 200 colonies. I should like to 

 be with you, but had too many seven cent potatoes and too few ten 

 cent berries to afford it. I hope and trust you may have a very pro- 

 fitable meeting. 



