STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 237 



honor to those who have made our country the most fruitful and 

 flowerful under the sun. Thirty years ago the strawberries of the 

 Chicago market could have been carried in a wagon; now they 

 require immense railway trains; three hundred to six hundred 

 tons of the fruit come in daily, and over a quarter of a million 

 persons are engaged in the harvest. He contrasted the poor 

 little flower bed half hidden in the farmer's yard, and the spikes 

 of hollyhock at the front door in years gone by, with the em- 

 bowered mansion and cottages of the present day. Alluding to 

 complaints of over-production of fruit, he regarded the evil as 

 resulting rather from imperfect distribution. We are market- 

 ing too poorly, and there is no obstacle in the way which may 

 not be overcome. We should know more of fruit culture in 

 Eussia and' Asia. He spoke with earnestness on the forestry 

 question. Without forests no successful agriculture was possi- 

 ble, and no high civilization could be maintained. Every year 

 of timber waste made the matter worse. Seasons change; de- 

 structive floods are followed by consuming droughts. The forces 

 of nature are unbalanced. In 1853 the State of Ohio had fifty- 

 four per cent of its surface covered with forest; in 1884 only 

 seventeen per cent remained. Do you wonder at the inunda- 

 tions, the harder winters, hotter and drier summers; or at the 

 absence of the sparkling brooks that ran and sang all summer? 

 He quailed before the inexorable penalties nature had in store 

 for all states and peoples who would ruthlessly destroy so glori- 

 ous a heritage of forest as the American people once possessed. 

 Our woodlands should be reserved by absolute force where the 

 government has the right, and by all encouraging legislation 

 where it has no control. 



President Earle's address was quite lengthy, the above being 

 only a brief abstract. It was loudly applauded, and 2,000 copies 

 were ordered printed in pamphlet form. 



On the morning of the second day a paper was read by J. M. 

 Smith, of Green Bay, Wis., on protection of crops in time of 

 drought. He recommended thorough drainage. He used tile 

 on his grounds, and in dry weather gave extra cultivation. 

 Wood ashes was a good fertilizer. He had three acres of straw- 

 berries on ground well manured for several years, which pro- 

 duced 1,000 bushels of berries and sold for over $2,200. It paid 

 to irrigate, and for this purpose he had water works erected, at 

 an expense of $1,000. 



Mr. Ohmer, Ohio, gave his experience with blackberries in 



