HORTICULTURE AT THE MINNESOTA STATE FAIR, 1917. 395 



Horticulture at the Minnesota State Fair, 1917. 



A. W. LATHAM, SECY. 



The Horticultural Building was again entirely occupied, as 

 it has been for a number of years now, with the horticultural 

 exhibit, including under this title fruits, vegetables and flowers. 

 This is a very large building, approximately 200 feet long by 

 125 feet wide. In the center of this building is an ornamental 

 fountain some twenty-five feet in diameter. South of this foun- 

 tain is located the flower exhibit, consisting of displays of foliage 

 plants by professional florists, occupying strips running length- 

 wise of this space. These groups of ornamental plants are 

 placed upon the floor with an area of earth around them, neatly 

 bordered by a low edging, separating them from the walks used 

 by visitors. The spaces left around the outside of the building are 

 used largely for cut flower exhibits, and these are maintained in 

 large part by amateurs. In the center of this space is a con- 

 siderable area used for decorative designs and decorated dining- 

 room tables. All the departments of this flower exhibit were 

 well filled at this fair. There was, I judge, an unusual display 

 of cut flowers grown in the gardens of the exhibitors. Every 

 variety in season at that time was certainly on exhibition, and 

 if this were the only display at the State Fair it would well 

 repay the visitor for the time and expense to have the oppor- 

 tunity of studying this infinite variety of flowers. Prof. LeRoy 

 Cady, of University Farm, was in charge of this flower depart- 

 ment. 



The fruit department occupied the northwest quarter of 

 the building. In general appearance it was very much as for 

 two or three years past. The west wall gave a space for a long 

 sloping exhibit of single layer boxes of apples, some 600, I should 

 judge, making an almost startling display of the possibilities 

 of apple growing in Minnesota. The north wall, on a similar 

 slope, was occupied by full boxes of apples, and judging by 

 what the writer heard and knows of this display it was pretty 

 nearly on a par with similar displays in the best apple growing 

 regions of the country. The floor space was occupied by six long 

 fruit tables with graduated shelves on each side, furnishing ac- 

 commodations for nine rows of fruit for each table. These were 

 all well filled with the various exhibits of collections and single 

 plates, in fact there were no vacancies or thin spaces on any of 



