94 ■ ANNUAL REPORT. 



mariner," these failures have only stimulated you to greater effort 

 and these difiiculties met and mastered, have not only accomplished 

 grand reshlts in our State, but have placed you, gentlemen, in the 

 front rank among the horticulturists of this or any other land. We 

 honor them for the work that they have accomplished, and hoping, 

 that your stay in our midst may be as pleasant to you as we know it 

 will be agreeable to us, and believing that your labors and delibera- 

 tions will be of lasting benefit to our State, we bid you, sir, a most 

 cordial welcome. 



RESPONSE TO THE ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 



Mr. Geo. W. Fuller, of Litchfield, responded on behalf of the So- 

 ciety. He said: 



Mr. President : 



We have too often enjoyed the hospitalities of this city not to know 

 that these are not the words of a mere formal address, but are the ex- 

 pressions of the real feelings of the citizens of Minneapolis. 



You are building here a great city. And you are wise in planning 

 to make it great, not only in the. census of its inhabitants; in the 

 number and magnitude of its buildings and in its manufacturing and 

 business establishments; but great also in the aesthetic, mental, moral 

 and religious power of its citizens. 



Hence, your schools, your churches, your societies for encouraging 

 music and the fine arts, your beautiful homes, surrounded by lawns 

 and flowers; your shade trees and grand system of public parks. 



God has put into every soul an element uf love for the beautiful. 

 And all these things have an educating as well as restraining power. 



Keep a flowering plant in every house, a pure painting on every 

 wall, a grass plot and shrubs about every home, and j'our streets shady 

 and clean, and the people, even the lowest, will measurably approxi- 

 mate in character to their surroundings. 



And He has given us flowers and plants and fruits innumerable to 

 meet and satisfy the demands of our nature. And He has made even 

 the fruits and vegetables to contribute to the beautiful before they 

 do to our grosser needs, the blossoms and the changing tints coming 

 before the perfected fruit. 



And it is our work to do what we may, to extend the cultivation 

 and influence of these God-given fruits and flowers. 



We are confident that an increased interest in these things is ex- 



