, 
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MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 93 
only twelve men at the first meeting. We shall yet command the 
respect of the Union. . 
In Memoriam. 
Mr. Elliot offered the following resolution : 
Wuereas, Our Secretary for 1874, from oversight or neglect, did not 
furnish in our last year’s Transactions, an obituary notice of our late wor- 
thy brother horticulturist, Capt. Wm. Paist; therefore 
Resolved, That an obituary notice be prepared for publication in our 
Transactions for the coming year by J. W. McClung, of St. Paul, and that 
Mrs. William Paist is hereby elected a life member of this Society, enti- 
tled to all the rights and privileges pertaining thereto, including a copy 
of the Transactions annually. 
The resolution was adopted. 
Floriculture. 
The Secretary attempted to read a report on Floriculture, by Mr. 
J. E. Booth, of Minneapolis, but owing to the difficulty of reading 
some of the specific terms, he asked and was granted leave to finish 
the paper at another time. The following is the report in full: 
FLORICULTURE. 
MR. PRESIDENT :—The love of flowers is almost universal; but, though 
it is so general, I find that very few people have the patience to try to cul- 
tivate them, and, of those who make the attempt, there are very few who 
succeed. Most, after repeated trials, and as many failures, give up in des- 
pair. Some few, indeed, of the unsuccessful ones, are content to go on 
year after year, making repeated failures, and yet persevering in spite of 
all. But those who succeed, and those who persevere despite their non-suc- 
cess, are very few as compared with the larger number, who, having met 
with nothing but disappointment, become discouraged, and give up the 
attempt in disgust; being content, either to do without flowers altogether, 
or to buy them, if wanted for any particular occasion. I might say a great 
deal in praise of the cultivation of flowers, and its refining influence; show- 
ing how it adds to the beauty and pleasures of home, improving the mind and 
expanding the ideas of the cultivator; but I take it we are all agreed on that 
point, so I will not say much about this. My object is to point out some 
of the causes of failure, and to show how it may be best avoided, confining 
my remarks almost entirely to that department of floriculture which comes 
under the head of window-gardening—I will merely observe, that plants 
and flowers are the cheapest ornaments and decorations we can have in our 
homes. Whether they be the shanty of the poor, the mansion of the rich, 
