ANNUAL WINTER MEETING. 115 
engaged in urging people in Minnesota to plant trees and ber- 
ries. I have never forgotten, in all this horticultural work, an 
injunction I received from friend Wilcox when I was suffering 
from discouragement in consequence of the failures that I had 
met with. When every dollars worth of my apple trees had 
frozen and were lost, he wrote me a very consoling letter, say- 
ing, ‘‘Don’t be discouraged. Keep right on planting, but plant 
some strawberries and raspberries to live on until you find what 
kind of apple trees will grow.” I have not believed so much in 
apple trees since as I have in berries. Inclosing, let me speak 
of one instance in many, that goes to brighten the memory and 
make the light of this world. Down in Fillmore county one 
evening a sixteen year old gir! was looking over my shoulder, 
commenting on the beautiful pictures of the strawberries in the 
catalogue that I had, and she said to me, ‘‘I have never had all 
the strawberries that I wanted to eat, in my life.” And I asked 
_her father if he was not ashamed of it, and he said that he was, 
and he was going to plantsome. Hedid plant them, and two years 
afterwards I visited that place again and they all seemed glad 
to see me, and the young lady was glad to see me. Well, I un- 
derstood it all when we went into the dining room. There was 
a dish of luscious berries sitting on the table, and when I spoke 
of their beauty, the good wife told me that they raised 900 
quarts last year. As I satthere looking into the smiling, 
happy faces of those children and thought how they must have 
revelled in the strawberries the summer before, I turned to the 
daughter, who was then married, and asked her if she had had 
enough berries to eat, and she said, ‘‘Yes, far more than enough, 
and father has promised to give some plants to John, and we 
are going to start out with them when we go to housekeeping.” 
And I thought to myself, ‘‘Well, Smith, there has: been lots of 
kicking and cuffing around for you to stand, but this pays for 
all of it, to see these children enjoy these strawberries.” (Ap- 
plause). 
Mr. Harris: In regard to what Mr. Smith says about the 
Fair at Rochester in 1866, I remember meeting Mr. Smith there 
and talking with him about the fruit that was exhibited. 
Mr. Keel: Before it is too late, I move that we extend a vote 
of thanks to Mr. A. W. Sias for the encouraging paper that he 
sent us. 
The motion was duly seconded and carried. 
The society then adjourned until $ a. M. Friday morning. 
