130 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
In 1855 he came to Minnesota and bought a little home in a small 
town of about 300 inhabitants, called Minneapolis. During the hard 
times of 1857-8, when business became very dull, he purchased, five 
miles west of the city, a farm where he could make a living by hon- 
est toil. Hesoon had his farm in condition to plant and put out 
some fruits, principally small fruits, such as currants, strawberries, 
raspberries, etc. There was very little fruit shipped here at that 
time, so he obtained good prices for several years, and his venture 
proved a grand success. The apples did fairly well, but the trees 
proved to be short-lived. 
About this time the State Horticultural Society was organized. 
Although his name was not enrolled as a member until 1868, he was 
present at the Rochester meeting in 1867,and has been a constant 
member ever since, contributing his annual dues willingly, until the 
society said: “Hold on, we have made youa life member!” He es- 
tablished the Lake Calhoun Nursery a little before this time, and 
carried it on successfully for many years, adding materially to the 
comfort and adornment of many homes. Twice he has been elected 
president of the State Horticultural Society and five times its treas- 
urer. He was appointed delegate to the Centennial Exposition at 
Philadelphia, in 1876, also representative to the Mississippi Valley 
Horticultural Association, held at St. Louis, in 1882, and was a dele- 
gate to the American Horticultural Society at San Jose, California, 
in 1888. 
Mr. Grimes, in taking a retrospective view of the history of the so- 
ciety and his connection therewith, says: “If, through my humble 
efforts, I have done anything to advance the interests of the society 
or the promotion of fruit culture within its bounds, I feel that I have 
been more than repaid and my work more than appreciated in the 
confidence and honors which this society, in its good pleasure, has 
conferred upon me.” 
“ Allow me to rejoice in the society’s prosperity? You commenced 
weak and feeble; you are now strongand healthy. The old workers 
will soon lay aside the shield and helmet, but younger men and 
women are flocking to the standard to take up the work and carry it 
forward with a vigor worthy of the cause, while Bro. Harris and all 
those veterans in horticulture must soon retire behind the scene 
and no longer wield the plow and spade, but like the autumn leaves, 
ripe to the full, must soon be scattered by the winds to whence? We 
know not of the future, except what has been revealed.” 
