Secretary-I would like to add a few words of commendation for the very interesting papers we have listened to this evening. They are all very fine.

Adjourned.

Thursday Morning.

Secretary-Mr. President, I have received a letter from our old friend and co-worker, J. S. Harris, La Crescent, Minnesota, that I would like to read to you. It is as follows: A. J. Philips, Secretary Wisconsin State Horticultural Society.

Dear Sir: I had fully hoped to be present at this meeting of your society and had looked forward to it with much pleasure. It is with great reluctance that I relinquish the privilege and the pleasure. My age and the state of my health admonish me that it would be imprudent to risk the fatigue and exposure of making the trip to Madison in such extremely cold weather as we are having this week.

My first meeting with your society was as a delegate from the Minnesota society in 1874; at that time our membership was forty-five and yours about sixty. The meetings that winter were more than usually interesting. The previous winter (1872 and 73) had been terribly destructive to orchard trees and nursery stock, and over Wisconsin, Minnesota and northern Iowa apple trees had perished by the hundreds of thousands. It was a terrible blow to pomology in this region but not a death blow.

The men who attended and took part in those meetings were the pioneers and heroes of horticulture; they had enlisted for life and had nailed the flag to the mast. Their motto: "Fruit for ourselves; fruit for the millions who are soon to people these states; fruit to load our railroad cars and steamboats and send to other lands." They came together to compare notes and, if possible, learn the hidden mysteries that would lead to success. Among those whom I remember as being present at that meeting was the genial president, J. S. Stickney, the man for the time, and the right man in the right place to pour oil on the troubled waters and revive hope when hope was almost gone; the man to marshal the almost vanquished hosts of horticulture to make one more stand at the breach and conquer every enemy, or perish in their last ditch.

The venerable A. G. Tuttle was there too, and Dr. Hobbins, E. Wilcox, J. M. Smith, G. E. Morrow, J. C. Plumb, B. F. Adams, Geo. J. Kellogg, C. W. Greenman, Geo. P. Peffer, C., Walters, Chas. Hirschinger, B. S. Hoxie, A. N. Seymour, Benton Laurence, Mrs. D. Huntley and Mrs. H. M. Lewis. I think the boy, A. L. Hatch was there also, but you were not there. A number of these useful men and women have been called up higher and are waiting to welcome us when our work is done. It was to meet and enjoy a hand shake with those who still remain and the valiant newer recruits, that I desired so much to be with you. Since that time the interests of the two state societies have been very closely identical, and the relation between them very cordial.

A great many perplexities and discouragements have arisen and have been overcome. The membership of the two societies has continued to grow, but not in the ratio of the influence that is being exerted for good.

When we look over the field and note the progress made in twenty-one years, the increased quantity of fruit and vegetables that are being produced on our farms, the improvement of the surroundings of the farm homes, the growing taste for the good and beautiful, the improvement in methods, and the added comforts and luxuries that are the direct fruits of the work of this society, our sorrow for the departed ones is softened. We see the foot prints of Smith, Peffer, Wilcox, Greenman, Cook, Dr. Hobbins and Mrs. Lewis everywhere.

May our hearts be strong and our purpose firm to carry on the good work until there shall be no more sighing for fruit, but every one shall have enough and to spare.

John S. Harris, La Crescent, Minnesota.

R. J. Coe—I move that this letter be printed in our next volume, it is valuable as a piece of history.

Carried.

REPORTS OF DELEGATES TO AND FROM OTHER

STATES.

Report of B. S. Hoxie, Evansville, Delegate to Iowa State Horticultural Society.

Mr. President:-The rule of this Society makes it the duty of a delegate attending the meeting of any society outside of

our own state to present a report giving some outline of the work on special prominent points as presented by the speak ers or essayists. I received my appointment as delegate to attend the twenty-ninth meeting of the Iowa State Horticultural Society on the 14--16 days of Decemebr, but found out on the 11th that the meeting was to be convened on that day and I was more than three hundred miles away, but with close connections by railroads I reached Des Moines early on the morning of the 12th, in time to greet some old friends at the breakfast table, and fall in line for work. Owing to a conflict of opinion as to who had the best right to the rooms formerly occupied by the society in the Capitol, I found the meeting had convened in a hall so large that when the fine fruit exhibit was displayed at one end, and we in the other, there was yet space enough to hold an audience of four or five hundred people.

However, some people still persist in having their own way, if the heavens fall. In this case the fall most annoying was the footfalls on the floor, which was out of harmony to the subjects presented. I am happy though to report that the governor has tendered a fine suite of rooms in the first basement of the building which are now fitted up by the state, or state expense, at a cost of about $1,000, where they will have ample room for their fine library, besides large audience rooms and rooms for committee meetings. To one who had to fight for a little corner in this building just to keep our books from destruction, I thought our sister state society could almost live in a palace with servants at their bidding. Owing to this disturbing element and some others, perhaps more of a personal nature, this meeting was not as harmonious or enthusiastic as on former occasions. I found a very long, but exceedingly interesting program which was gone through with, but there was scarcely any time for discussion, as from five to seven topics were laid out for each session, and the president gave a great sigh of relief when he laid down his gavel. I found that my notes would outrun the limit of a report, so I give here only some of the points, but by no means from all the speakers.

The reports of the directors of the several districts in the state gave a pretty clear status of the condition of fruit grow

ing for the year 1894. Mr. Powell, of Glenwood, reported for the third district, which includes the famous Mills county, for apple orchards, and this gave from 35 to 40 per cent. of a crop. He mentioned one orchard of James Record as having produced 5,500 bushels of apples on thirty-five acres. This or chard was protected on the south, west and north by timber, which in this season of drouth and hot winds seemed to prevent the blasting of fruit which was experienced in other localities.

The early frosts in May affected small fruits so that in several localities of the state it hardly averaged one-half a crop. It was the general opinion that the apple orchard needed cultivation and fertilization if we expected good results.

Mr. Elder, of Concord, read a good paper on Small Freeholds, in which the importance of every man owning a home was the theme of the essayist. He stated that a farm of five or ten acres would support a family; such a farm would afford work at a profit both for young and old.

Mr. Reeves, of Waverly, thought, as he presented the subject of timber planting, that it should be considered as a means of climatic modification, and also as a protection for orchards, but not to cut off the circulation of air; and for this protection of orchards he would have the trees far enough away so as not to sap the soil of the orchard row.

The discussion of spraying apple trees for the codling moth showed a diversity of opinion, but it was pretty generally conceded that lack of success was mainly owing to the poor qual ity of the London purple used.

In plum culture it was the concensus of opinion that trees should never be planted in blocks of one variety alone, but different varieties together even to the intermingling of tops. Mr. Beryhill, of Des Moines, reported success with the Miner plum when planted intermixed with other varieties, such as Forest Garden, Wolf and De Soto.

Mr. R. P. Speer, of Cedar Falls, said we had too long a list of native plums; we should make a selection of only those best for canning and cooking. De Soto was mentioned as best for -canning, while Wyant was by some considered best for dessert.

Mr. A. F. Coleman, of Corning, presented some interesting facts in a paper on Climatic Modifications of Fruits, drawing his lessons from fruit on exhibition at the world's fair. Quality in some varieties, and nearly the same latitude, was noticed in a marked degree in all standard varieties, and the preference was in favor of New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. It was the general opinion that Russian apples were not proving so satisfactory as some of the standards, as all, or nearly all, were early vari eties and fair keepers.

Mr. Speer had been experimenting for a number of years in top grafting the apple, and said that our best apples may be grown successfully by top grafting them on hardy varieties. The question to be solved is, what stock is best for each variety. He found the Wealthy more hardy when worked on the Duchess than when root grafted, and Whitney is a promising stock for Jonathan.

He also stated that one of the new Russians, Repka Malenka, was very hardy and had proved a good stock for some of our best varieties in top working. Japan plums were very promising and much heavier bearers than the Russians.

Among our native plums, De Soto, Hawkeye and Miner were considered best, while the Kelsey was recommended for preserves, canning and evaporating.

Mr. W. M. Bomberger, of Harlan, in his paper on Marketing Grapes and Small Fruits, mentioned the quality of the soil as an important factor. The dry atmosphere and plenty of sunshine in our western climate gave us the finest flavor, and also the finest bloom; the quality of the grape was indicated by the bloom on the fruit. Thin skin was caused by a lack of clay in the soil. He considered ashes the best fertilizer for the vineyard, and if used in conjunction with slaughter house refuse, all the better. W. N. Hoops, of Muscatine, gave an interesting talk on Drouth, Its Effects and Remedy. Irrigation by drive wells was both practical and economical. With them it was found that three four-inch pipes would throw from 1,500 to 2,000 gallons of water per minute with an eight or ten horse power engine, and the cost was only about $1.50 or $2 per acre