414 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



calj'x open in a medium deep, smooth basin; core open; flesh green- 

 ish-white, not quite fine; flavor acid; season, September. Originator 

 8338, "Tree fine, verj' hardy." 



Every seedling- mentioned in the above report is worthy of ex- 

 tensive trial and ought to be put iu our experiment stations as soon 

 as trees can be procured. 



THE IDEAL HORTICULTURIST. 



PROF. H. \r. BREWSTER, UNIVERSITY FARM SCHOOL, ST. ANTHONY 



PARK. 



The ideal horticulturist is neither a luyth nor a m3'Stery, but a 

 concrete, living reality. He lives not onlj^ physically and financi- 

 ally but mentallj^ morally and aesthetically^ He is ideal, not be- 

 cause he is lacking in the real, but because he is the highest type 

 of the real. He is fitted both by natural taste and bj' special train- 

 ing to live and labor among fruits and flowers, to discover and util- 

 ize the scientific principles underlying the transformations of plant 

 life, to cultivate, harvest and preserve nature's bounties, to minister 

 with bountiful hand to the happiness and well-being of his fellow 

 creatures and to love the beautiful, the true and the good iu nature, 

 in nature's children and in nature's God. 



But what of the practical phase of this ideal character? Has he 

 no money to make, no plans to push, no difficulties to overcome, no 

 competition to meet, no scheming to thwart, no natural foes to cir- 

 cumvent, no storms to dread, no blight to escape, no plagues to 

 avoid, no frosts to fear? Yes, indeed! He must have money, plans, 

 push, vigilance, skill, patience and perseverance. But in, through 

 and above each and all of these he inust have faith, hope and char- 

 itj'; charity" for ever}' other struggling child of humanitj^ hope for 

 the richest fruits and the choicest blessings both in this life and in 

 the life to come, and faith not onlj' in the bount}'^ of nature and the 

 wisdom and goodness of nature's God, but faith in the virtue, love 

 and gratitude of God's human children. 



The practical is an essential element in the character of the ideal 

 horticulturist, and in many ways he should receive special training 

 He should study conditions of climate, qualities of soil, functions 

 of plant organs, character and treatment of natural diseases, me- 

 thods of propagating and cultivating, modes of harvesting, means 

 of preserving, ways of marketing and the tricks of the trade in gen- 

 eral. But, essential as is all this practical training, it is not that 

 which gives character to the ideal horticulturist; it is, at best, onlj"- 

 a means for realizing, in successful effort, such a character as can 

 truly be called ideal. While it is essential to the highest success of 

 a horticulturist and should characterize all his plans and labors, it 

 should be subservient to that culture which develops true char- 

 acter. 



When studying science the horticulturist should, in the universal 

 laws governing all scientific deductions and generalizations, recog- 

 nize the oraniscence of the infinite mind; and when planning for 

 future results and hopes, he should, in the personal form which 



