MINNESOTA SUMMER MEETING, 1895. 231 
Ye veterans, who have been fighting so long against such fearful 
odds, gaining a little here and a little there, begin now to see the 
silver lining that skirts the cloud that reflects the light from the 
opening gates of heaven! 
But, in order to carry out this great work, there must be united 
effort on the part of every member of this society, and I would 
especially call your attention to the efficiency of our lady members. 
Nothing in life stimulates to action so much or makes our burdens 
so light, as the sound ofa happy voice with the light of a pleasant 
eye. Those who wish to attend the apple paring should always 
come in “pairs.” 
Our younger members, in all probability, will not be required to 
sacrifice time and means with so little reward as those who have 
preceded them. The work of the society has been so well laid out 
and so skillfully managed, that there is not a thing beneath the sun 
but you have dreamed of in your philosophy. We have the State 
Experimental Farm right here, that is doing a grand work in the 
interests of horticulture,and then we have auxiliary stations in 
different parts of the state, that make their annual reports to the 
central head station. All these reports come before this society 
and are published in its transactions, and in addition runners are 
sent abroad everywhere to spy out the land and gather in the goodly 
fruits for the benefit of the commonwealth at large. 
In regard to myself, I can only say that my pride runs parallel 
with that of a friend of mine who always boasted of having been 
born in Boston, and declared if he had to born again a hundred 
times he would go straight back to Boston every time. I have no 
wish to live my time over again, not even to correct the “mistakes 
of Moses;” but, if the mantle of youth could be thrown around me 
again, I should fall in with this society and pitch my tent within 
some garden of roses. 
‘The Modern Woman in Horticulture” was responded to 
by Mrs. J. M. Underwood in a pleasing, summer day soliloquy 
as follows: 
A dayinJune! A perfect day! A blissful day! A literal day of 
rest! At peace with all the world! Just the day for communion 
with nature, knowing that the desire is reciprocal, for that she 
claims recognition from man is evident on all sides! It is Sunday: 
The duties of the past week are over—not all accomplished that had 
been laid out, but time limits everything and sixteen hours cannot 
be crowded beyond a certain point. The duties of the coming week 
hover around furtively striving for recognition, although notified 
early that this was a day of rest. The soft mellow air with undulat- 
ing motion gently lulls every sense, and they too retire into spacey 
and useless human nature lies inert. A spirit of unrest from the 
north comes floating through the air, stirs the peaceful quiet and 
asks what the “Modern Woman” is doing in horticulture? Whether 
it is an honest desire for information that prompts the inquiry, or 
simply that doomed to the misery of eternal motion it would there- 
fore involve others in the same restlessness, is a mystery, the solu- 
