COE Pee, RT META, mp TST RM fy ee tae PEE. EUR ee Ee ie oe Oy Te 
440 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
money value,and then commenced an indiscriminate slaughter and 
robbery of property to increase the wealth of the present genera- 
tion. The needs of railroads and manufactures have stimulated the 
greed of man, and in a few years more, unless a change takes place, 
desolation and ruin will follow the path of the destroyers. The re- 
sult shown already is, that many of the old orchards there are only 
producing leaves and blossoms and fail to mature fruit of any con- 
sequence, so that the crops are nearly always failures. 
No doubt there is more than one cause for this effect, but the 
prime cause seems to be the excessive and injudicious demolition 
of the forests, giving, in their seasons, alternating cold and dry, hot 
winds an undisputed chance to sweep over the regions thus made 
barren. Sixty years ago the desirability of extra hardiness in any 
variety was hardly thought of; today extreme hardiness is one of 
the most desirable requisites of a tree. 
Now, I do not intend or desire to make any argument out of this 
condition of things against growing orchards successfully in states 
possessing much less forests than the states mentioned have left at 
the present day. In many of these cases the orchards were planted 
first,and the barriers of protection against wind and storm removed 
afterward. I believe in forest barriers in certain localities and for 
certain purposes, but I do not believe that it is necessary that the 
major part of any country should be left in dense forests to make 
the pursuit of horticulture more successful. A judicious system of 
removing the original forests, leaving windbreaks and shelter belts 
where needed and locating. the reserve timber lots where protection 
is most needed, and the disastrous results would have been obvi- 
ated. 
In this state there exists a very intimate relation between forestry 
and horticulture in all its branches—yes, and every other branch of 
agriculture. Whether we ever become one of the apple states and 
hold our reputation on the production of the small fruits, vegetables 
and grains, depends very much upon the system of forestry pur- 
sued. 
This is very far from being a treeless region, but in very many re- 
spects we are so peculiarly situated that the forestry question is one 
of extraordinary moment. Beyond our northern border and extend- 
ing,perhaps,a thousand miles northwesterly,to the region of perpetu- 
al winter, is a vast plain but lightly wooded and without mountain 
ranges to break or change the course of the winds that sweep down 
from the Arctic Circle. The winds that reach us from that direction 
are neither warm nor overcharged with moisture. On the west, over 
the Dakotas, there are no large bodies of water and comparatively 
very little timber, and, generally, when the west winds reach us they 
come with an insatiable thirst and drink up, instead of imparting, 
the moisture we so much need to succeed with horticulture. Again, 
to the southwest, over the country once known as the American des- 
ert, is a vast, almost sterile region, over which most damaging heat 
and blight-laden winds occasionally reach us. 
On the north, nature has kindly done her part towards our protec- 
tion in locating up towards the border quite extensive forests and a 
region of lakes, streams and swamps. Vandalism has already been 
