8TATK HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 373 



met witli favor, and the exchange will be made should the State 

 grant them a sufficient number for the purpose. 



Our thanks are due the president and the members of the 

 Horticultural Society for the interest they manifest in the pros- 

 perity of the Minnesota society, for kind reception and enter- 

 tainment of your delegate, and their efforts to make our visit 

 plefisant and profitable; and also to Secretary Babbitt, of the 

 Agricultural Society, for copies of their transactions for 1884. 



EEPORT OF DELEGATE TO IOWA. 



BY G. W. FULLER. 



The Iowa State Horticultural Society met at Atlantic, in the 

 Avestern part of the State. There was a full attendance of the 

 earnest, active horticulturists of the society. They greeted your 

 delegate heartily^ and voted to reciprocate our courtesy by send- 

 ing a delegate to our next meeting. They hold their next session 

 at Des Moines. The following are some of the points in their 

 proceedings of interest to us: 



1. They voted to condense everything going into their 

 printed transactions and to put in nothing not pertinent, so as to 

 make their book of less size. They do not deem it wise to make 

 a large book merely as a show. 



2. They declared that the hardiest catalpa was not sufficiently 

 hardy for the northern part of tjieir State. This being true, it 

 is not hardy in Minnesota. 



3. They voted that the Russian mulberry is valuable only for 

 thick wind brakes and hedges, and for furnishing food for birds. 



4. Especial attention is being given to the different soils as 

 affecting different varieties of fruit. The past severe wijiters in 

 Iowa have clearly developed the fact that the same varieties of 

 fruit have stood well on certain soils but have failed on others in 

 the same locality. 



5. Another point receiving attention is the amount of starch 

 in the twigs of apple trees as determining the hardiness of the 

 tree. It is found that hardy trees like the Duchess of Oldenburg 

 have a large proportion of starch in their composition, and it is 

 thought that in this way we may determine the hardiness of a 

 tree without giving it years of trial. 



6. A good deal of attention is given to the fruits and shrubs 

 of northeast Europe. The varieties imported by the Govern- 



