50 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
fruit. I went to that part of the building that was assigned to Oregon, 
the land of the big apple, and to other states to view their displays. 
Well, I found on the table some withered specimens that looked very for- 
lorn. I went around to Minnesota and fonnd there upon the table the 
most beautiful fruit I had ever seen. It was fruit that was admired by 
every one who saw it. Now, it was stated to me by some one from Ore- 
gon or elsewhere, that their fruit had been on the table all winter and 
that Minnesota fruit was kept in cold storage and brought on fresh as it 
was needed. However, that may not give us any trouble because we have 
as much cold storage in Minnesota as we have apples. (Laughter and ap- 
plause. ) 
A year ago last fall an old friend and schoolmate of mine, who is a 
fruit commission merchant in the city of Philadelphia, wrote me, saying 
that the fruit crop in western New York, Virginia, Maryland and some 
other fruit growing sections upon which he had been accustomed to rely, 
had been a failure, but he had seen from the papers that Minnesota had 
au abundant crop of fruit; and he wished I would put him in correspond- 
ence with some of our commission merchants so that he might supply his 
customers. I did the best I could. (Laughter.) So you see how our fame 
as a fruit growing country has gone out, and all by reason of what these 
gentlemen have done. (Applause,) 
You have done well. We appreciate that fact, and we are glad you are 
here with us. We are not going to make you vain by giving you all the 
credit for what has been done. But I think you are entitled to the 
biggest Share of the glory, and as you have earned it, we will let you 
have it. Weare glad of two things; that you are entitled to the biggest 
share of the apples, and that you have brought them with you. 
We want you should come to our homes while you are here, and make 
yourselves at home and partake with us of the good cheer which we have, 
such as the dried apple pie, and other delicacies of the season which you 
have enabled us to have. Make yourselves perfectly at home, and if you 
don’t see whatyou want, whyask forit. (Laughter.) Justcomerightin. 
Now, I have been told, and I think on good authority, that this other 
association has not been ‘‘wasting its sweetness on the desert air,” but 
they have been demonstrating to us that the time has come when we 
should ‘‘be(e) keeping” ourselves with greater sweetness, not only of 
temper but in all other ways. 
I understand that one of the secrets of success in your business is the 
proper selection of a queen for the hive. I. may be misinformed, but if 
this is true, I will tell you, gentlemen, that you could not have come to a 
better place. You can study their habits while you remain with us, but 
do not take any away with you. (Laughter and applause.) Just make 
yourselves at home, and we hope that you will be treated with that cour- 
tesy and that consideration which will induce you to come again. 
Now there is one thing that I was going to say—I want to say some- 
thing that may be beneficial to you. As I have traveled on the Pacific 
coast, and in other arid sections of the country where the subject of irri- 
gation is a great subject, I have had pointed out to mea little plot of 
ground that raised such a fabulous amount of produce, and I have in- 
quired to ascertain how much fertilization, cultivation and irrigation was 
required to produce this fabulous amount. And I have wondered if we 
ete 
