276 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Now,in regard to this law. There is no law that will shut frauds out 
completely, but itseems to me itis the province of the law to shelter 
the ignorant and the weak from the strong and the cunning, and 
there is more need of protection in this direction than in any other. 
I think our people have been defrauded in this matter more than in 
any other way, especially within the last year or two. I think we 
should have a law that would place a limit somewhere on agents 
who are selling nursery stock throughout the state. It is a factthat 
Eastern firms are advertising for agents and are so careless that 
they employ agents that cannot be trusted. It seems to me that the 
nurserymen of the state—and all nurserymen—in sending out agents 
ought to be required to give bonds somewhat similar to those re- 
quired under the late law which has proved unconstitutional. The 
reason it was unconstitutional was because it discriminated as 
against persons. The nurserymen in the state had advantages 
over those outside of the state. The law which I would propose 
would bea law which would place those nurserymen doing busi- 
ness in the state, no matter whether residents in the state or outside 
of it, under the same restriction, and require bonds similar to those 
required under the late law. It has also appeared to me that it 
might be a good thing, possibly, for the law to require that 
all fruit trees, apple, plum, cherry, pear, etc., sold within the state 
should be labeled as to the place of their growth; each tree should 
havea label attached toit. Our people are ready to pay a good 
price for good trees. They are not so particular about the price 
they pay, but they want something hardy and good; and we ought 
to protect them in their desire for something hardy and give them 
an opportunity to deal with men that are under certain restrictions 
to furnish them what they desire. 
Mr. Dartt: Mr. Chairman,it seems to me that there would bea 
great deal of impracticability about any law that we could invent. It 
looks that way tome. A few years ago the matter of fraud in sell- 
ing fruit trees was agitated, and I heard there was a plan on foot, 
or an effort made in the legislature, to get a law passed to punish 
nurserymen that sold black-hearted trees. There are a good many 
that think a black-hearted tree is good for nothing. I thinka black- 
hearted tree, if it has a good growth throughout, may be a good 
tree. If that law had passed there would be no safety for me to sell 
trees at all, because if I sold them without cutting them open to 
see whether they were black-hearted there might be a black heart 
in them, and some other fellow would cut them open and find it; 
andif I cut open all my trees, I could not sell them; sol would have 
to stop entirely. That would be very impracticable, and so would 
all these other proposed laws; Ithink we would find a certain im- 
practicability in allofthem. Our friend Pearce has got about on 
the right track. 
Mr. Wedge: I think perhaps it would be well to have some mo- 
tion made in reference to this subject, that we could bring this mat- 
ter toa vote. I move that the State Horticultural Society express 
itself in favor of a law similar to the late law that was on the statute 
books, which would protect our people from horticultural frauds, 
A cena 
