MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 43 
the dirt, but destroys the germs of a fungus which does much to cause ° 
decay. 
In conclusion, it is to be hoped that students in Botany will hereafter pay 
more attention to these interesting plants. There is a field for much origi- 
nal investigation and discovery among them. As yet no manual of the | 
fungi of this country has been published. What has been written upon 
them is scattered through the scientific periodicals and the reports of 
societies. Dr. Curtiss, of South Carolina, has published the most com- 
plete paper, but it is local in character. In the study of these plants, 
very careful manipulation is needed, and they are preserved with consider- 
able difficulty. Most of them are fleshy and watery, and only a thin slice can 
be dried so as to show the structure. There is not a creditable collection 
in this country. Much can be accomplished by careful observation on the 
part of members of societies like this. 
Discussion. 
h i 
Mr. Wilson mentioned a trouble with his roses, saying that 
while an inch or two at the end of the branches was alive and 
nice, below this the leaves were dead. 
Prof. Morey replied, that the rose fungus would be visible under 
a moderate power of glass, while the apple fungus cannot be dis- 
covered under any power of the glass. 
é 
MR. GRIMES’ PAPER. 
Mr. Grimes then read his essay on ‘‘ The Influence of Horticul- 
ture in Edueation,’’ for which a vote of thanks was tendered. 
The following is the paper in full: 
THE INFLUENCE OF HORTICULTURE IN EDUCATION. 
Mr. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF THE STATE HORTICULTURAL 
Society: We have a work to do, a mission to fulfill, that will require all 
the energy and perseverance of which we are capable. Nor will it do for 
us to halt or even falter until our influence shall cause the public grounds 
around our institutions of Jearning to correspond with the culture and refine- 
ment taught and exemplified within; nor until every home shall be made a 
place of beauty and a paradise to its possessor. 
Who does not feel the refining influence of flowers? And shall the beau- 
ties of the landscape go unheeded? ‘‘ Behold the lilies of the valley!” 
‘* Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” I feel when 
I come into a hall like this, and look upon the flowers that are placed here, 
fresh from the hand of the Creator, that no human skill can imitate, whose 
colorings no artist’s pencil can draw out, and whose perfumes have not been 
extracted from this earth, that I am nearer heaven than I was before. Fruits 
and flowers are said to be immortal, and to constitute one of the highest 
sources of enjoyment in that city where every horticulturist expects to enter; 
