STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 117 



DISCUSSION ON MISS MANNING'S PAPER. 



At the conclusion of the reading of this paper, Mr. J. C. Plumb, 

 of Wisconsin, arose and said : Mr. President : I have listened 

 with so much interest and admiration to the reading of the paper 

 we have just heard, that I wish to congratulate your society upon 

 having taken up such a subject and made so good a beginning in 

 the treatment of it. The paper is commendable from several 

 points of view. First, it shows a practical acquaintance with the 

 abundant flora of the region, as well as an intelligent and a novel 

 arrangement in the order of presentation, based upon the habitat 

 of the native plants. Commencing with the lowest valley and 

 ascending to the summit of the bluffs, or passing from prairie to 

 woodland, and from bench to swale, the writer finds and describes 

 to us at each step a new variety or species. Second, it is an illus- 

 tration of the prevalence of natural selection or adaptation in plant 

 life to certain soils and aspects; and a valuable lesson in horticult- 

 ure was that where she found the most delicate plants upon the 

 northern slope of the bluffs. I hope your society will encourage 

 such valuable efforts in this work of exploring the natural treas- 

 ures of horticulture which abound in the northwest. It is a neg- 

 lected field, and yet one in which there should be many such 

 workers, as the writer of this paper ; and not only is the field of 

 botany open, but in entomology and ornithology, in both scientific 

 and economic relations, is there a similar need of careful study in 

 the west, and they, with botany, are especially adapted to the ca- 

 pacity and nature of our young women. 



Mr. McHenry, I wish to inquire of Miss Manning whether 

 she has ever found the trailing arbutus in the Lake Pepin Valley. 



Miss Manning. I have never met it near Lake City. If found 

 in our part of the state it must be very rare. 



Mr. Golden. I have seen it near Plainview, in Wabasha 

 county, where I live. 



Mr. Porter and other members spoke in terms of high apprecia- 

 tian of the paper. 



