HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 65 



feel proud to make the acknowledgment here today. "By your 

 fruits ye are known." Not only is the reputation local, but abroad 

 as well, are the fruits of Excelsior and Minnetonka known. In the 

 exhibit of fruits made by this society at Philadelphia in '76, and in 

 which you took a prominent place, the question was there asked 

 me if I would be so kind as to tell by what secret process we got 

 that beautiful finish on our fruits? 



At the last meeting of the American Horticultural Society, held 

 in California, when the subject of grapes was under discussion, 

 President Earle called upon me to inform them how we grew such 

 fine grapes up there in Minnesota, as he saw on exhibition at New 

 Orleans? Of course I did not tell them, those grapes were all 

 grown round about Lake Minnetonka. 



Not only have you been successful in the production and growth 

 of fruits, but your skill in scientific horticulture has been carried 

 out in the work of adorning your homes, and making them attrac- 

 tive and pleasant. Brother Gould has been guilty of producing 

 some of the finest roses which I have ever seen. 



There is no better index to culture and refinement than we see 

 here round about us. The stamp which you here affix, will upon 

 the future of your village remain indelible. 



But, then, there is something more behind all this, which we 

 have not yet noticed. I remember in 1855, Minneapolis then boasted 

 a population of 300 ( x ) on the west side of the river, and we made 

 it a business to look after strangers and take them in. We could 

 then show our immense water power in all its native wildness, and 

 point out the natural advantages that would eventually build up a 

 city of 100,000 people. Our conservative Eastern friends were a 

 little slow to see the grounds of our prophetical vision, and we, 

 ourselves, were a little distrustful of our own statements. But 

 then, we welcomed everybody, and still welcome them, and herein 

 was the secret of our success and development. 



Do not understand me to say that your delightful village will 

 ever make as large a city as Minneapolis, but, then, you will soon 

 grow into Minneapolis as St. Paul is now doing. 



What could be more beautiful, more enchanting, than that pure 

 sheet of sparkling water, which you call Minnetonka? What 

 secret delight the view inspires? Our hearts beat with high satis- 

 faction as we pour out our congratulations upon the tenants of those 

 rural village homes. Look out around you, upon the sloping 

 woodlands, the little hills, the fruitful vales, the flowery lawns, and 

 call them, if you please, all your own! Only let me remind you 

 that others have a delight in them as well as yourselves. What 

 mean those beautiful cottages erected along the shores, and used 

 only as summer resorts? Wealth, beauty and refinement here 

 congregate for a season and make gay the Saratoga of the West. 



We are here as your guests today, and you receive us with a 

 royal, old-fashioned welcome. We come to do honest work for the 

 benefit of the whole State, in the interest and in the advancement 

 of horticulture, and while we claim to be aggressive, are not com- 



