PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 425 



Personal Recollections. 



*A. J. PHILIPS, WEST SALEM, WIS. 



I once heard a speaker say that every man should be well 

 born. That is my case, Ladies and Gentlemen. My parents were 

 intelligent, God-fearing, Christian people of Welsh descent and 

 of the Baptist persuasion, like our good old friend, Seth H. Ken- 

 ney. From my good mother I inherited a good memory and a 

 good constitution and from my father a love for fruits and 

 flowers. This fortified me against bad habits and took me into 

 the company of the best people on earth, the horticulturists. 



An unforgetable scene was a visit from that grand Quaker 

 gentleman, P. A. Jewell, at my home for two days. His good 

 wife was with him. It was in the early seventies. He was the 

 founder of the great nursery at Lake City, which still bears his 

 name. I received from him the first real inspiration I had in 

 apple growing. I recollect two visits I made to his grave at Lake 

 City, where he rests in their beautiful cemetery. 



In my further pursuit of knowledge in fruit raising I visited 

 that good, honest old nurseryman, Uncle Wilcox, of Trempeau- 

 leau. I recollect his advice yet. He said, "You go with me next 

 winter to Winona; the Minnesota State Horticultural Society 

 meets there. Its members are well posted in apple growing, and 

 you can learn much to your advantage." I went with him and 

 became acquainted with a grand body of men. Truman M. 

 Smith was president and C. Y. Lacy was their secretary. I also 

 met E. B. Jordan, O. F. Brand, the veteran John S. Harris and 

 many others, and to the best of my recollection I have attended 

 thirty-four other of its meetings since that time. I recollect 

 that I took much of the knowledge that I gained there to my 

 own state, where I served for five years as their secretary. 



The meeting that next fixed itself in my mind was at the 

 old Market Building in the city of Minneapolis, when Peter M. 

 Gideon was reinstated into the society, in 1883 — Truman Smith 

 was president and Oliver Gibbs was secretary. Gideon ac- 

 cepted their terms. He and his good wife were in an adjoining 

 room. Good old Peter Peffer and myself, being from a sister 

 state, were appointed to present them to the society. Peffer not 

 being well used to English ordered me to introduce them. I 

 knew the society wanted him back, and I introduced them the 

 best I could. They were received by the members standing with 

 open arms, and such another scene of hand shaking I never saw. 



♦Since deceased. 



