HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 279 



President Elliot. What shall be done with this stuff that is 

 raised at experiment statsons, how shall it be disposed of so as 

 not to come into competition with our farmers and fruit-growers 



Mr. Wilcox. I move that it be disposed of by placing it with 

 suitable persons in different portions of the state. 



Mr. Sampson. If there was an experiment station near me I 

 would be perfectly willing that that experiment station should be 

 all the advantages it could from sales. If I could not live under 

 it, I would move somewhere else. 



Mr. Dartt. I presume you wont prohibit me from reading this 

 article: "The greatest obstacle in the way of rapid progress thus 

 far, seems to have been the want of funds to purchase stock and 

 make necessary improvements. Judging the future by the past, 

 the question arises, shall we plant with a view of selling trees to 

 help pay expenses? I have given this subject much thought and 

 am confirmed in the belief that no man who runs an experiment 

 tree station at public expense should be engaged in selling trees." 



Mr. Wilcox. I am a firm believer in the benefit of these object 

 lessons. Now, I have been struck more by that, than anything 

 else in showing the surroundings of Mr. Somerville, and showing 

 how much good a liberal distribution has done in that section. I 

 believe it would be the best thing for this state to develop its ever- 

 green and grape interest, for instance, by experiment stations. If 

 I were running one and running it as I wanted to, I would start 

 fifty thousand grape-vines, and give every one of them away where 

 they would do good, and make some portion of each county an ob- 

 ject lesson for that section. I don't care how it is brought about, 

 sell them if you can get anything for them. 



Mr. Pearce. Do you propose to starve all the honest nursery- 

 men to death? 



Mr. Wilcox. If I were an honest nurseryman in the state of 

 Minnesota and selling grape-vines, I would contribute $500 to- 

 wards supporting an experiment station that would start desirable 

 kinds and would place then in the hands of men that would make 

 them a success in their locality. 



Mr. Somerville. Until this thing is established, so that we can 

 distribute some trees among the public, gratis, we will never suc- 

 ceed in getting trees planted very far over this state, for the reason 

 that people have no confidence in them, to start with, and the next 

 thing is, they don't know how to take care of them. They think 

 they can raise calves and trees in the same lot together, and every 

 time such a mixture proves a failure. Now, in order to get a start 

 in any community, this stock must be given without price. We 



