80 ANNUAL REPORT 



Mr. Wilcox. I do not see in what way the Society can give 

 that construction to the premiums offered, so as to reject all of 

 them; there must be some one of the number handed in that is 

 entitled to the prize the Society has offered. I think the matter 

 is not discretionary, and I say this in justice to the young men 

 who have written essays at my suggestion; the best should re- 

 ceive a premium. 



Mr. Harris. We offer these prizes for essays for the purpose 

 of getting the rising generation to become interested in the work 

 of horticulture and to set them to thinking and studying. We 

 expect those who write essays will have to become close observ- 

 ers. And we don't expect to find that boys are perfect in prac- 

 tical horticulture. I was on one or two committees last year 

 and we decided to award premiums in every case, and in the 

 way the offer was made I don't know as there was any way to 

 avoid it. 



On motion the meeting adjourned till seven o'clock p. m. 



EVENING SESSION. 



TUESDAY, JAN. 15, 1889. 



The meeting was called to order at seven o'clock p. m. by Vice 

 President Sias, who stated the first in order upon the program 

 for the evening, was the delivery of the President's annual address. 



PRESIDENT'S ANNUAL ADDRESS. 



Members of The Minnesota Horticultural Society, 



Ladies and Gentlemen: Another year has passed and we 

 have come together once more in council, to glean from our di- 

 versified experiences such information and instruction as we have 

 developed in our industrious investigations after wisdom and 

 truth; desiring to weave into our historical record such facts, 

 opinions and practical theories as we have been able to eliminate 

 from Nature's great store-house of horticultural treasures, for 

 future generations to reexamine, comment upon and perhaps 

 criticise. We come feeling that we have found out only a few 

 of the many intricate problems and possibilities in our several 



