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Minnesora STATE HorTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 99 
now Minneapolis, St. Paul and all other towns or cities of any size reached by 
railroads are supplied not by our local and surrounding farmers, gardeners and 
fruit growers and seedsmen, but the whole United States from Florida to Cali- 
fornia, and even Spain, Italy, and the West Indies and the Bermuda Islands al) 
contribute to supply and overstock our small markets, and when once shipped 
here must be sold in this market for what it will bring, and being perishable and 
often far gone and unfit for food is often sold for much less than the cost of trans- 
portation, saying nothing about the cost to the producer. This is now the fact in 
regard to almost everything that is grown here by our holticulturlists for sale. 
I have seen the past season many times car loads of such stock sent here and 
sold that was unfit for use, when there was plenty of our own home grown upon 
the market good and fresh, and could be purchased at very low prices; but as the 
imperted stock must be sold it would generally find purchasers at some price. 
Now to enumerate some of those articles shipped here—asparagus, lettuce, rad- 
ishes, rhubarb, peas, potatoes, beans, onions, squash, tomatoes, cabbage, celery, 
cauliflower, cucumbers, melons, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, grapes, 
and in fact everything grown in this or any other climate that can be shipped 
here before being rotten and worthless. Now when we take into consideration 
that in the climate and soils several hundred or a thonsand miles south of this, 
all these things, or most of them, can be produced much earlier in the season, 
if not cheaper than in Minnesota, you will say at once that the prospects of our 
horticulturists is hopeless, or at least not very flattering. I say not necessarily 
so. There are two sides to this question. 
Remedy. 
But the facts above stated do now exist, and require horticulturists to look 
them squarely in the face and to meet them like men. And as we cannot adopt 
a protective tariff or other legal means to protect ourselves, or make our business 
more profitable, so that we will not be compelled to give up the ship, we must 
look out for other means to puta stop to this immense amount of importing 
of what we have enough and to spare, and in some way bring our own produc- 
tions into market, and create a demand for home-grown fruits, flowers, vege- 
tables, trees, plants, vines, seeds, roots, bulbs, &c., &c. Now the great question 
for not only this society, but each individual thereof to solve is, how can this be 
done? How can we create a demand sufficient to enable our own nurserymen, 
seed growers, florists, fruit growersand market gardeners to sell stock enough at 
fair prices to support themselves and families in competition with all that is im- 
ported and sent here for sale on commission. Some, or the most of you men, 
think this is a very small matter, but with me I know with many others, it is 
one of the utmost importance, and one, in fact, upon which our bread and butter 
must depend. Now I have studied this matter most thoroughly for some years, 
and for me I can see but one way out, and I will briefly state that, and if any one 
or all of you can suggest a better one, I, for one, will be most happy to hear it. 
My remedy is this: that we shall, one and all, study our callings, and see what 
our land, soil, location, and markets considered, is best suited for, and what 
crops or fruits we can grow to the greatest perfection, each and every man for 
himself. Then plant no more than what he can most thoroughly and properly 
prepare the ground for, and no more than what he can cultivate and keep clean, 
mellow and free from weeds as long as the same requires, and no more than 
what he can harvest and market in the best possible condition, and in the most 
