270 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
brought at Albert Lea came under the ruling of the supreme court 
of the state, and they decided that our law was unconstitutional. I 
do not believe I need to go into the details of the case at all, but I 
believe we, asa society, ought to appoint a committee that would 
recommend legislation similar to that we had, only that should 
stand the test of the courts, which can very easily be accomplished, 
and which will work a great saving to the people of the state. It 
seems an outrage that such frauds should escape unpunished, as 
they do. Ido not know thatI have anything more to say. Ifyou 
have any questions to ask in regard to this matter, I shall be glad 
to answer them. I think we ought to talk this thing up now. 
President Underwood: If we have anything to say, let us say it 
briefly. 
Mr. Harris: The question has now come toa point where a man 
is privileged to say something. There is no doubt there are frauds 
perpetrated on the planters of Minnesota. A nurseryman from 
some other state, or even in this state, gets hold of something, gives 
ita new name, or his agent claims it is propagated by some new 
process, which makes the story ten times more plausible; he sells 
it and he commits a fraud, and it wasa fraud of that kind which 
created so much excitement in this state. One apple they advocated 
was the Salome apple. It is a small, red-striped apple, of good 
quality and a good keeper. There is no evidence that it is a good 
bearer. Itcan be bought for $4.50 per hundred of men who have 
stock on hand. The agent camein and sold those trees to planters 
for fifty cents to one dollar apiece, claiming they were budded—if 
they were budded, they were a bigger fraud than if they had been 
on their own roots. 
We ought to have some law in this state that would prevent men 
from coming upon us and imposing upon those who are ignorant 
of fruits and the methods of propagation, making fraudulent repre- 
sentations to them, taking a dollar from them where twenty-five 
cents ought to pay the bill; and we ought to have laws like they 
have in California, requiring stock to be inspected before it is sent 
out. We have frauds enough already,and we ought to have waked 
up before and put them out. Iam in favor of this society appoint- 
ing a committee to define what we want, and to ask the legislature 
to pass an ironclad law that will put a man in the jug either for 
selling an old variety under a false name or deceiving the planter 
in any way. There is another remedy, and thatis a law compelling 
every man who is a farmer in the state of Minnesota to join the 
State Horticultural Society, attend its meetings and read its reports; 
and then there will be no law necessary against frauds. 
Mr. Dartt: I am afraid if the plan conveyed in that last remark 
was carried out, it would not work well. Iam afraid it would spoil 
the effect of what he has said before. That would show clearly 
that we are figuring to get money into our treasury by compelling 
them to join our society. If he had changed it a little and said we 
should have a law requiring all fools to be killed, that would be 
more to the point. If we had such a law—that all fools in the state 
should be killed—then that would be a block in the way of those 
fraudulent fellows transacting their business, because they sell to 
