70 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



instead of as heretofore with the whole matter leaded which 

 makes a much neater page. This I objected to, but as the 

 state law requires 2, 500 ems to the page and as all the other 

 state reports were similarly treated I could only submit to it as 

 the inevitable. This law in regard to state printing has not 

 been generally enforced for many years but the abuses which 

 have arisen on account of the laxity has brought about a strict 

 compliance with its letter. It seems to me it would be much 

 better for the society if we could have the cost of publishing 

 the report added to its annual appropriation and then let our 

 own printing contract. I am sure it would make the work of 

 the secretary much pleasanter and we would then be able to 

 push the work, but so long as the secretary must await the op- 

 tion of the state printer he can not be responsible for the time 

 of the issuance of the report. 



TIME OF HOLDING OUR ANNUAL MEETING. 



If we could change the time of our annual meeting so that it 

 would occur in December, we would then be sure of getting our 

 reports distributed by the first of March as is customary in 

 Illinois, where their meeting is held at that time. If the meet- 

 ings were held then, the copy could easily be in the hands of 

 the printer by the middle of January, and at a time when 

 ordinarily they have but little to do, > they would then push it 

 through to completion in a short time, while if the meeting is 

 held in January the copy comes into the printer's hands when 

 he is busy with other state printing. 



FARM SCHOOL. 



Our farm school is a great success; we have now over one 

 hundred students of a high class of boys, which is about as 

 many as can be accommodated. It is only within a few years, 

 perhaps in this state within the last six years, that the larger 

 part of the farmers have become convinced that any special 

 education was needed in order to pursue their avocation suc- 

 cessfully. I think too, that many of the states have made the 

 mistake of making the standard of admission to their agri- 

 cultural college too high, and they have thus excluded those 

 whom these institutions were designed especially to benefit. We 

 would, I think, have been the gainers had we begun with low 

 grade agricultural schools. At present all over the country 

 there is a loud call for agricultural education. The demand is 

 that it shall be helpful by being practical, painstaking, cheap 



