368 ANNUAL REPORT. 



EEPOET OF DELEGATE TO WISCONSIN^ MEETING, 1885. 



BY J. S. HARRIS. 



Hon. Truman 31. Smith, President of the Minnesota State Horticul- 

 tural Society : 



Having received credentials from our worthy president as a 

 delegate to represent Minnesota horticulture at the annual con- 

 vention of the Wisconsin State Horticultural Society, Feb. 2 to 

 Feb. 5, 1885, I started from home on the evening of the second, 

 going by the Chicago & ISTorth western Railroad, and arrived at 

 Madison about midnight, making the journey from La Crescent 

 in about six hours and by night. As it was midwinter and the 

 ground covered with snow, the route would not have pi'esented 

 any very great attraction for a day ride. 



Madison, the capital city of Wisconsin, has a population of 

 about 12,000. It is in the midst of the ''Four Lake Region," 

 and is beautifully situated upon an undulating isthmus between 

 Lakes Meudota and Meudosa, the two uppermost, and in situa- 

 tion and scenery is the most beautiful city in the State, and is 

 peculiarly well adapted for a summer resort. It has wide, 

 straight and regular streets, and many fine buildings. The 

 capitol stands upon a sightly eminence in the centre of a square, 

 well kept park of fourteen acres, wooded with native timber, is 

 l)uilt of limestone, and from its dome commands a fine view of 

 some of the best and most fertile farming lands in the State. In 

 the city and vicinity are the United States court house and post- 

 office building, the University of Wisconsin, Soldiers' Orphans' 

 Home, and Hospital for the Insane. It is also well supplied 

 with manufactories of various kinds, and shows an air of thrift 

 that makes a favorable impression upon the visitor. The com- 

 pletion of the extensions to the capitol building, make it one of 

 the finest state houses in the west; furnishing ample room for 

 the legislature and State offices, rooms for the State library, 

 Historical Society, State Agricultural Society, State Horticul- 

 tural Society, and the accomodation of the annual meetings of 

 the various other State associations; but it was found none too 

 roomy to accommodate the people who assembled there dur- 

 ing the session of this convention. The rooms of the State Agri- 

 cultural Society contain a quite extensive library, including the 



