STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 113 



people there that I could not raise fruit — couldn't raise strawberries — 

 and it was an impossibility to raise apples. But I was not discouraged; 

 I came there, notwithstanding this report, and I have raised fruit in 

 Chippewa County. The influence that a few have had there iti persist- 

 ing in this matter of bringing forward the claims of fruit raising has 

 done a good deal to place fruit raising on a successful basis in these 

 western counties up there. 



Our meeting last Tuesday was wholly an experiment, and we didu't 

 know how we would succeed. We arranged to have three sessions 

 and we sort of made up a program. We put in enough papers we • 

 thought to fill up the time allotted with discussion. Every paper was 

 presented, save one, and that was caused by the ill health of the 

 ■person; and those papers elicited most earnest discussion. Every man 

 was ready to respond to anything that was asked, and the discussions 

 were so interesting that we had hard work to get them to stop. I 

 expected that we should have some difficulty in drawing out discussion, 

 but we had to put the brake on. When I was going to the hall in 

 the evening, I met one of the editors of one of our papers at the door 

 of the hall, and he said, "I am going to set out some fruit trees; I 

 had been wanting to, but didn't know how to take care of them. I 

 was into your meeting and heard your discussion and it brought out 

 just what 1 wanted to know. Now, I can go to work in the right 

 way." That is one instance of the good that has come of our society. 

 You must understand, of course, that we have had failures there from 

 inexperience and from the fact that our land is not in the condition 

 it should be. It has not yet become thoroughly fitted for fruit culture 

 but we are gaining ground and becoming more successful, especially 

 in small fruits, and we feel confident that we will meet with ultimate 

 success. 



Mr. Sias. I have been very much interested in this report. I will 

 say that \ was present when this society was organized; also present 

 at the second annual meeting. It seems that this new society is a 

 larger one than ours duriug the first two years. 



Mr. Harris. Mr. President, I have been very much gratified in 

 hearing this very favorable report. It carried me back to those days 

 down at Rochester, some nineteen years ago, when we were a weak and 

 feeble little institution; and yet our Society has become a power in the 

 State, and I think that it will grow till all our people are interested in 

 horticulture. I would move that we furnish this new society at Granite 

 Falls with one hundred copies of the report of this Society for 1885. 



