64 ANNUAL REPORT. 



may get a paper from him. I have received a letter from him 

 and an abstract from it may serve to bring the question before 

 the meeting in case his paper should arrive too late. He states 

 in his letter that he had a fair crop of berries last year, most of 

 them the Crescents; the Sharpless yielded very few berries. He 

 says: ''At a meeting of the McLeod County Institute I gave a 

 paper upon the growing of small fruits and in that paper stated 

 that the Sharpless would probably ' peter ' out, and they have 

 turned out about as I predicted, for I had very few berries. I 

 have several new kinds; got several new varieties last year. I 

 have fifty vines that produced 5,000 plants; the Phillips is a very 

 nice berry; set fifty plants last spring; set out some of Stone's 

 hardy blackberries last spring and was well pleased with the 

 bushes, but as I did not cover them I am afraid that forty -five 

 degrees below zero has fixed them. Have set about one acre of 

 Turner raspberry, so you see I am not idle." He wishes us an 

 interesting meeting and a profitable time. Mr. Cutler has been 

 lip in that country sonie ten or twelve years. He has been trying 

 to raise strawberries and two or three years ago he thought it a 

 good idea to come down and attend the meeting of the State 

 Horticultural Society. It was after listening to the discussions 

 and hearing the reports that he carried home this information 

 with him that he has been successful in getting some berries from 

 his plants. Previous to that his efforts had proven a total failure, 

 only loss of time and money, but he has succeeded so well that 

 he is now setting out two acres and has quite a piece started. So 

 we see, gentlemen, our society is doing a little good; we are 

 planting some leaven that is working. 



Prof. Porter. To-morrow afternoon has been assigned for the 

 meeting of the Amber Cane Association. I will state that after 

 the opening address, which will be delivered by the president, 

 Capt. Blakeley of St. Paul, that I will make a statement of the 

 condition of the industry of Minnesota sugar and syrup at the 

 New Orleans Exposition, and a comj)arison of the sugar products 

 of Louisiana and Minnesota. 



President Smith announced as the next in order a paper en- 

 titled : 



