STATE HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 69 



have done everything possible to advance the work and put it in 

 shape to forward the purpose for which the station was created. 



EXCELSIOR STATIOIir. 



Now that the experiment station at Excelsior is about to be aband- 

 oned, would it not be best to transfer such stock as Supt. Dartt 

 may think best to his station? I would also suggest that a committee 

 be appointed to confer with Prof. Porter, and through him with the 

 Board of Regents, as to whether the one thousand dollars designed for 

 the Excelsior station could not be transferred to pay expenses at the 

 Owatonna station. If such an arrangement could be eflFected it would 

 place that station in a position to go on and undertake valuable ex- 

 periments at once. 



TREE PEDDLERS. 



The law that was passed at the last session of the legislature to 

 prevent the practice of fraud by tree-peddlers and commission men in 

 the sale of nursery stock was watehed very close Jby those anxious to 

 hinder or prevent its passage if possible; and from the amount of let- 

 ters of inquiry received, and the criticism this new departure has oc- 

 casioned from very many of the nurserymen south and east of us, 

 privately and in their Nurserymen's Association meeting held last 

 June, we are led to believe that some of their agents have given warn- 

 ing to their principals that the people of this State are taking means 

 for the protection of those horticulturally inclined, who are annually 

 being defrauded by deceitful impositions in the sale of nursery stock. 

 This may be a new revelation to the principals, and I wish I could hon- 

 estly believe that such was the case. The law considers employer and 

 employed alike responsible, and a business that has to constantly era- 

 ploy fraudulent means in the sales and dislributioruof its products to 

 make a success is in a pitiful condition, and should be looked upon 



with disgust and aversion. 



The inquiry into the means established to throw some restraining 



influence upon the methods pursued in the sale and distribution of 



nursery stock should very properly come before this meeting for a fair 



and impartial consideration. That the law has its defects aud is not 



perfect is apparent, but complaints of swindling and fraud, by tree 



agents, have been less the past season than at any previous time for 



several years, which proves it beneficial and a decided progress in the 



right direction. We hope the experience of the past year may teach 



