STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 227 



pay is the absorbing, all important point; too many seem to 

 think the only thing to be considered. It would appear to be 

 high time for farmers generally to understand and realize that 

 they must grow their own supplies of fruit, or very largely go 

 without this priceless blessing, which should be shared by rich 

 and poor alike. Good fruits are easily produced when proper 

 m^eans are brought to bear. 



THE INDUCEMENTS 



offered to the horticultural laborer are many and of a varied 

 kind. This avocation should go hand in hand with that of agri- 

 culture and supplement the labor, energy and skill which 

 usually afford such fair returns for time and money thus em- 

 ployed. No prudent farmer should dispense with shade and orna- 

 mental trees about his yards, or be without some method of pro- 

 tection for his stock and growing crops; his garden should be 

 well supplied with small fruit products, and vegetables of vari- 

 ous kinds; his orchard should contain at least some of the hardi- 

 est kinds of standard fruits — some such, for instance, as the 

 well-known sorts our honest nurserymen will recommend; and 

 more than this, he may and should produce each year, a tempt- 

 ing crop of grapes, sufficient for his own demands at least, and 

 some to spare in case of sickness, or adding to the comfort of a 

 well-deserving friend. 



We hardly need to call attention to the excellence of Minnesota 

 horticultural products since their merits are so well and gener- 

 ally understood. For flavor, quality and beauty, our fruits are 

 unsurpassed. The numerous awards of merit given to our own 

 Society in the past, where large exhibits have been made and 

 closest competition has been had, attest this very fact, and are 

 among the strongest proofs that we may safely challenge almost 

 any section of the land to make displays of fruit of finer quality 

 than we can here produce. It is well known that southern fruits 

 are not so highly flavored or as good as those produced in colder 

 latitudes; and like the human race on southern soil, are apt to 

 soon to degenerate, to some extent, at least. In saj'ing this we 

 do not wish to make invidious comparisons by classing tart and 

 ascid fruits with '^ sharp" and tonguy men; please draw your 

 own conclusions without extenuation. 



