MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 123 
cellent name be cherished by the members of this Society. The well 
known injunction of St. Paul was truthfully illustrated in the life of 
our departed friend: ‘ Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit ; 
serving the Lord.” 
CYRUS GRAY. 
The subject of this memoir was the pioneer market gardener of 
St. Paul, and was well known to all the early settlers of that city. 
Previous to the establishment of his garden the citizens of St. Paul ob- 
tained their vegetables from Galena, furnished by the steamers, daily. 
We have a faint recollection of seeing this pioneer about the streets 
of St. Paul, soon after our arrival in 1850, with a wheelbarrow. It 
required but few things in this line to supply the St. Paul market of 
that early period. Besides, like most pioneers, the first horticultur- 
ist was not blest with an undue amount of this world’s goods. He 
commenced the business in a very small way, when compared with 
some of the gardens of the present time. The site of the first garden 
was on the Selby place, and was a very good selection for the pur- 
pose, being free from frosts and having a strong clay loam soil. The 
same ground is now occupied by the fine residences of Dr. Day, Mr. 
Knight, Mr. Monfort, Mr. Thos. Cochran, Rev. Mr. Flint and others. 
Mr. Gray, commenced, we believe, on the Selby place in the spring 
of 1851. Weare not informed in regard to his operations before 
that year. The writer used to visit his garden quite often, to see if 
vegetables could be grown in this hyperborean region, having in 
view the same business in addition to fruit growing and a general 
nursery. 
In 1851 his garden was quite extensive, considering that he did 
all or nearly all his own work. Onions and cabbages, in particular, 
were very fine, as were indeed the beets, carrots, parsnips, &c. Ma- 
nure was used in that garden, though on new land, end of a rich, 
deep soil. - 
The great fault of our old pioneer friend was in not sticking to his 
trade. He wanted more land, and in a few years went out among 
the romantic lakes near White Bear, where he attempted vegetable 
and fruit growing on a larger scale. His place, of course, was too 
far away from market to be very profitable, and fruit culture in those 
days was rather precarious in Minnesota. 
The end of this pioneer gardener’s career was rather tragic. He 
was on his way to Shakopee, where he once lived for a while, to look 
after some property, but while stopping over night at Minneapolis, 
the hotel was burned and he lost his life’ An alarm was given, but 
Mr. Gray being quite deaf, was not awakened. In the struggle for 
life he failed to reach the door, and he perished by suffocation. 
GEORGE W. STEWART. 
The year 1874 is memorable for the work of the fell destroyer 
among Minnesota horticulturists. Mr. G. W. Stewart, of Le Sueur, 
is numbered among the fallen. He was one of the pioneer nursery- 
men of the State, and though having many years ago abandoned the 
