474 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
common council of the city of Lake City, who have invited you _ 
here, and in behalf of the citizens of Lake City who have taken 
so much interest in your coming, and in behalf of those mem- 
bers who reside here, and in behalf of the local horticultural 
society, I bid youa hearty welcome. The gates are open, the 
latch strings out, and our people are at your service. Our wel- 
come and our hospitalities we extend to you without any reserv- 
ation whatever. Welcome is our greeting. (Applause). 
Mr. E. H. S. Dartt, of Owatonna, then responded to the ad- 
dress in behalf of the society as follows: 
Mr. President, Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen: It affords me 
great pleasure to assure you that this hearty welcome is very highly 
appreciated by all the members of our society, and all the more so 
because it comes from the beautiful city by the lake. 
We think of Lake City as the home of one of the brightest “Jew- 
ells” that ever adorned our society. His ways were truly the ways 
of pleasantness, and our fondrecollections of him are wont to linger. 
He is gone now, but he has left his impress on what we see before 
us, fruits and flowers. Smiling faces, friendly greeting and soul in- 
spiring song are the best boons on earth to mortals given, and espe- 
cially to those of usin whom the rougher elements predominate. 
If we can calmly face the southwest and draw in a hot breath from 
the American Sahara and then turn to the northwest and face the 
Minnesota blizzard without flinching, or, in other words, if we are 
ridiculously obstinate and ridiculously aggressive, and if we pos- 
sess a great amount of self-reliance, which is but another name for 
self-conceit, then we are well qualified for the continuous pur- 
suit of horticulture in Minnesota. Those of us who are thus consti- 
tuted need not be surprised if we are compared to the prickly cactus 
that thrives on the most barren plains or to the persistent Russian 
thistle or even to the thorn in the flesh, and the worst of us may 
hear something about the fellow with long ears. 
Now the best way to avoid trouble with the cactus is to keep away 
from it, and to subdue the thistle don’t fight it but quietly stop it 
from germinating, and to avoid the thorn in the flesh keep the flesh 
away from the thorn, and to quiet the long-eared fellow most effect- 
ually I think of nothing better than death. The thought that we 
must die to be appreciated is not very consoling, but tardy justice 
is better than no justice at all, unless we happen to be in the position 
of a certain criminal who, on being assured that he would get jus- 
tice, replied that that was just what he was afraid of. 
Whilst we feel strong in our prowessas fighters,we are humiliated 
by the fact that we are powerless in the presence of one of our own 
productions—just wave the olive branch, and we are at your mercy. 
You Lake City people have discovered our weakness and you do not 
hesitate to improve your opportunity. You have adopted the tac- 
tics of a cunning woman when she would subdue one of the lords of 
creation. You meet us with sweetest smiles and words full of kind- 
ness, pathos and love; wereciprocate these tender emotions of yours 
