Part 51
The President: Now we will turn the meeting over to the Plant Breeders' Auxiliary. I regret very much to have to announce that our good friend, Clarence Wedge, president of this auxiliary, is ill this afternoon and unable to occupy the chair. I understand there is no vice-president of the auxiliary, and I have been requested to continue as chairman during this meeting.
We have a very important program, one of the very best we have had. Some of our best men are on this program and I hope you will all stay and attend the balance of this meeting. I am going to call on our good friend, Charles Haralson, superintendent of the Zumbra Heights farm, to tell us about "New Fruits Originated at the State Fruit-Breeding Farm." (Applause.) (See index.)
The President: Professor C. B. Waldron, of North Dakota, finds it necessary to leave in a very short time, and he will therefore address you at this time instead of this afternoon. He will tell us about "Running Out of Varieties." (See index.)
We will now listen to the report of the committee on examination of the Minnesota State Fruit-Breeding Farm, Dr. O. M. Huestis, Chairman. (See index.)
The President: The next speaker needs no introduction to a Minnesota audience, as the word "Hansen" is a household word and particularly in every agricultural community within the state, and the Hansen hybrids are eagerly sought for by practically everybody who plants trees. Professor Hansen has done a good work and is still accomplishing things. He will tell us what he has done during 1915. I regret the time is so short, but we will get Mr. Hansen to tell us more about his work.
"Newer Fruits," Prof. N. E. Hansen, Brookings, S. D.
Afternoon Session, at 1:30.
Half-hour exercise, questions and answers on "Increasing the Fertility of the Land," led by Dr. F. J. Alway. (See index.)
The President: Mr. Crosby has a word for us, and before continuing with the regular program I will ask him to come forward at this time.
Mr. Crosby: Gentlemen of the Horticultural Society: Mr. Latham, please come this way. I have the honor, in behalf of the society, to inform you, as you probably know, that this is your silver wedding, but we are going it one better and make it a golden wedding for you today. We have come to the conclusion, you have been with this society for twenty-five years, and we think it is best that you be watched and chained. I have the honor of presenting to you, in behalf of the society, a gold watch and chain. That is all I have to say. (Applause.)
Mr. Philips: Now for a speech.
Mr. Latham: Wait a moment, I will see if it is worth it. (Laughter.) I hate to part with this old turnip. I have carried it forty-five years now, never broke a crystal on it, even. It is a good faithful companion. I do not know what I will do with this now unless I put it away in a safety vault somewhere.
I do not think the Horticultural Society expects me to make a speech; they know I am not a talker. I could say something if the room were smaller, but my voice does not seem to carry very well. I am a good deal in the fix of the steamboat that carried passengers on the river up and down to the camp meeting there. They had a whistle on that boat that made a tremendous noise but when they blew it the boat had to stop. (Laughter.) If I talk loud enough to be heard here, my thinking works do not operate. (Laughter.)
I hardly know how to express my appreciation of this gift, as showing the sentiment of the society towards me. Of course, I have tried to do what I could for the society. Sometimes, perhaps, I have gone a little too far, something like the man who was appointed in charge of a flag station. He had never done any such service as that, but he understood the business of a flagman was to stop trains. The first train that came along was a heavy express train, eight or ten or a dozen coaches, and he rushed out and flagged the train. The conductor got off, all in a hurry, and looked around. He did not see anybody but the flagman. He said: "Where are your passengers?" "Well," he says, "there ain't any passengers to get on, but I didn't know but somebody would like to get off." (Laughter.) Sometimes, perhaps, I have overreached myself here.
Twenty-five years is quite a while to look back, and as I look over the faces of those present I can scarcely see one that was a member of the society twenty-five years ago when I became secretary. Mr. Long in his address before you at the banquet last night spoke of the meeting that he first attended of the horticultural society, held in what is now the Metropolitan Life, on the ground floor, and he spoke of the surroundings there. No fruit on exhibition. If a man had two or three apples in his pocket, he showed them around on the sly as though it was a crime to let people know there was such a thing and that he had a few at home he could eat. Quite a remarkable thing!
That was the meeting of the horticultural society in which I was first elected secretary, and I recall well all the circumstances connected with it. So many of our members that I thought so much of in those days are gone. Of those who were present at that meeting, the only person left that I recall is Mr. Underwood. I had forgotten Mr. Long was there; I think he reported the meeting; I guess the first of our meetings that he reported, too.
I am not going to make any more of an address. President Vincent is here and will address you. I thank you very much indeed. (Applause.)
Mr. Vincent: I am very glad that I got in in time to be a witness to this delightful and gratifying little ceremony which has just taken place. I can not imagine anything more satisfying to a man who, in spite of all his modesty, knows he has done for twenty-five years good, genuine, valuable work than to have other people intimate in so pleasant a way that they are not entirely oblivious to what he has done.
It always does one good to see efficient work recognized, and, while I cannot own, I am sorry to say, to an intimate personal acquaintance with Mr. Latham, I have come into association with him often enough to be able to share a little what you feel toward him and toward what he has done.
The President: I am sure you will all be delighted to hear from the very popular president of one of the greatest universities in the United States, President George E. Vincent of Minnesota State University, who will now address you. (See index.)
The President: I am sure we are very much indebted to President Vincent for this most scholarly and delightful speech. We hope he can continue with us during the afternoon. Owing to the fullness of our program this forenoon we are unable to discuss one of our most important subjects, and that was "The Elements of Hardiness," by Prof. M. J. Dorsey, member of the Fruit Breeding Section, of the University Farm. He will discuss that question at this time. (Applause.) (See index.)
The President: Senator Dunlap, who so delightfully entertained us this morning and instructed us on the subject of "Spraying" will now speak to us on the subject of "Packing and Marketing Apples." (See index.)
Discussion.
The President: I am now going to call on a gentleman that hasn't said a word during our discussions and that is Mr. Weld, and request him to recite his favorite poem.
Mr. Weld recites "The Three Warnings."
The President: We have had a very interesting session, had a good time, everything has gone very nicely, but somehow there has been one thing lacking. The old friends from Iowa have not been with us with one exception, Mr. Ferris, who gave us the lantern talk on Tuesday, but Friend Gardner, Patten, Sherman and several others (I believe Sherman has been in town, but we have not seen him here) have been absent. The reason for it is that the Iowa people have been holding their annual meeting. But I am very glad that Mr. Gardner is with us this afternoon, and I am now going to call upon Mr. Charles F. Gardner, of Osage, Iowa. (Applause.)
Mr. Gardner: Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen: I have attended your meetings so long that when I appear here before you I feel as though I had got home. I have attended every meeting of this society except two since this society held its annual meeting at Lake City the last time. That is when I joined the society, and since that time a great many things have taken place. Think it is seventeen or eighteen years ago, in that neighborhood. I was absent two years. I went to New Mexico, I went there to die, but luckily I escaped and came back home. I want to say this, that when I got back to this part of the country, if there was anything I thanked God for it was that I was spared to get back. I think there is no necessity of emigrating either from Minnesota or Iowa, and people that have traveled over the west and made a tour extending along the Pacific coast and finally get back into this country, this latitude, are generally pretty well satisfied and stay here. That is, providing they didn't spend all their money and can not get back here. Some of our citizens are now stranded out there and will come home whenever they can.
In regard to the progress of horticulture in this length of time, I know you are very much interested in the work of Mr. Patten and a good many of you have trees that he originated. I want to say that the people of our state of Iowa have not really gotten their eyes open yet in horticultural ways. They only appropriated for our use $4,000. We have five societies, the state society--and then the state is divided into four sections. In the last few years our state society has appropriated to carry on, to help Mr. Patten carry on his work, we have appropriated and used $4,600.
Before that time our society allowed $50.00 a year for station fees for quite a little while, then before that $25.00 a year. Last year we appeared before the legislature and tried to get some help to keep up that work and informed them that our money was getting short and that unless it was done we could not carry on that work. The legislature hardly winked an eye at our request. No money was appropriated, and of all the things that I ever hated to help do last week was to discontinue the Charles City station. For fear that some one might think we had gone back on Mr. Patten and that the work he has done will be lost to the world, I will say there is nothing of that kind. There is not a member of our society but would do anything in the world for Mr. Patten, to help him. It is just simply a fact that the money of our society is so nearly exhausted we had hardly enough to pay for the expenses of our meeting last week. We had a splendid meeting and never had such an exhibit of apples before. Perhaps we may have had as many apples on exhibit but not so many perfect ones. On the first opportunity we have we are going to see that Mr. Patten does not suffer. I would say that they are in pretty good shape to take care of Mr. Patten down there for a year or two, and we will not lose the valuable work he has done.
As the meeting is drawing to a close I want to say in closing that if there is anything that does me good it is to come up here and look into your faces once a year, and I wish that I could see more of you. There is a kind of bond of brotherhood and a feeling that when I am here I am among friends and I have found that to be the case for almost twenty years. Thank you. (Applause.)
The President: I have just discovered a question here that should be answered, if there is anyone here that can do so. "In my locality the basswood and box elders are infested with a scale-like substance that looks like cotton. Most of the trees of the varieties named are infested. What is it and is there a remedy?"
Mr. Kellogg: That is no doubt the cottonwood bug that infects the soft maple. They come and work for about three years and then some insect comes in and cleans them out.
The President: What is the remedy, Mr. Kellogg?
Mr. Kellogg: You can use any spray for this bug. On forest trees it is out of reach, but arsenical spray will get them if you can reach them.
Mr. Warner: Cotton maple scale. Professor Waldron recommends to spray with crude oil when the trees are dormant. We find it best to cut it back. The cottony appearance does not show until the second year and then the scale has really done its injury. The time to cut it, you will find a lot of small scales on the young twigs, and if they are cut off and a new growth forced you get rid of it.
The President: I understand Prof. Broderick of the College of Winnipeg has been here. If he is here I wish he would come forward and give us a word. I understand he is the delegate from Winnipeg. (Applause.)
Mr. Broderick: Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen: Before going away, I would like, as a member of the Manitoba society to express to you my great pleasure at being here and taking part in your excellent meeting. I had planned for a number of years to come down but circumstances have been such that I have been unable to be here. I might say that we in Manitoba, about 400 miles north of here, are interested in horticulture as well as you people in Minnesota. We have a fraternal interest in the work you are doing. A number of our members, I might say, are members of your society, and we are getting your excellent publication and following the work you are doing. Our problems up there are very similar to yours, and we feel that you can give us greater information than we can obtain from any other source. We appreciate the excellent work you are doing, and it has been of great interest to me to see the wide range of subjects you are covering. I was particularly interested this morning in the session of the plant breeders, as that is a line of work that we feel up in Manitoba has some possibilities for us. In a horticultural line we are confined very largely to the hardy varieties. We are working on improving the hardiness of our varieties, and the fruit growing as it is carried on with us very largely in a small way by the farmers and others interested through our province. We feel, however, that there are possibilities, and we are only too glad to get any information from you as to the work and progress that is being made in the matter of hardy fruits. We have been endeavoring to improve our native plums. I have had the station there at Winnipeg, and in connection with one of our nurserymen, Mr. Buchanan, we have been selecting hardy plums for a number of years, and we hope from that stock in crossing with the Japanese plums, as Professor Hansen suggested this morning, to prove that there are possibilities even as far north as Manitoba. I have heard Mr. Buchanan say on several occasions that he thought the possibilities of plum growing were fairly good in Manitoba. In small fruits we have possibilities. The currants and raspberries grow very well. We have not done so much in strawberries, but I know there are a number of growers in parts of the province that are making some very successful experiments in strawberries, and we hope in a few years to produce strawberries of a fairly good quality.
The President: How is your wild strawberry?
Mr. Broderick: I find that the wild strawberry does very well. We have around Winnipeg, where the college is located, a wild strawberry that does very well, and it is possible that we can do some work on improving the wild strawberry. We are looking to our hardy native fruits and the hardy importations we are making to establish varieties which are hardy and suited to our conditions. We are interested also in the work done in tree planting, and I followed with interest the discussion this morning as to windbreak protection. That has been a problem with us. The government of the Dominion has taken it over, and we find it is working out all right. Our Forestry Station at Indian Head sends out lots of trees free each year. These are planted, and they have a system of inspection. Certain requirements are made in regard to the preparation of the soil, methods of planting and caring for the plantation afterwards.
A Member: What are the majority of your forest trees?
Mr. Broderick: Forest trees are largely deciduous, the Manitoba maple, the ash, the elm and the willows. I was pleased to hear some one this morning mention the golden willow. That is one of the best trees we have. The Manitoba maple, of course grows all over that northern country, but we find that during recent years it has been becoming seriously infected with various kinds of pests. This year the aphis were serious. We are discouraging to a certain extent the Manitoba maple and planting other trees and are getting better results. The ash, the elm and willow are doing well. With the conifer trees, the Scotch pine, the white spruce, the balsam fir and the ridgepole pine are those which are growing.
The improving of home grounds is another question that is interesting us. I do not think there is anything in this western country that is going to do more to make homes than this. So we are interested in all the work you are carrying on, and we appreciate the opportunity of coming here and meeting with you and listening to the excellent discussions you have. I might say that our annual meeting is held in February and if any of you happen to stray up there we would be only too glad to have you join with us.
I thank you very much for the many courtesies extended to me on behalf of the Manitoba society. (Applause.)
(Time was now taken up by two minute speeches of different members, after which the meeting was declared closed.)
Records of Executive Board for 1916.
Record of meeting held in secretary's office 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6, 1915.
There were present Thos. E. Cashman, LeRoy Cady, Clarence Wedge, J. P. Andrews, R. A. Wright and A. W. Latham.
In the absence of the chairman of the board, Mr. J. M. Underwood, Clarence Wedge was elected chairman pro tem.
The following accounts were examined and approved and orders drawn in payment therefor.
Geo. W. Strand, treasurer, premiums annual meeting, 1914, $596.50.
Geo. W. Strand, treasurer, premiums summer meeting, 1915, $172.00.
A. W. Latham, expenses secretary's office from June 1, 1915, to Dec. 1, 1915, $1,064.30.
It was decided to present to the annual meeting of the society for action the following named persons for honorary life membership: John Bisbee, Madelia; J. R. Cummins, Minneapolis; S. H. Drum, Owatonna; F. W. Kimball, Waltham; Chas. Haralson, Excelsior.
An appropriation of fifty-three dollars and 25-100 ($53.25) was made for the benefit of the Minnesota Forestry Association.
Adjourned sine die, CLARENCE WEDGE, Chairman, pro tem.
A. W. LATHAM, Secretary.
* * * * *
Record of meeting of the board held in West Hotel 12:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 10, 1915.
There were present at this meeting Thos. E. Cashman, LeRoy Cady, Clarence Wedge, J. P. Andrews, R. A. Wright and A. W. Latham.
Thos. E. Cashman was elected chairman pro tem.
J. M. Underwood was elected chairman of the board for 1916, and A. W. Latham was elected secretary at a salary of eighteen hundred dollars ($1,800.00) per annum. The salary of the treasurer was fixed at twenty-five dollars ($25.00) per annum.
The board having under consideration the recommendation of grades of apples for use in packing for market, a committee consisting of Clarence Wedge, J. P. Andrews and R. A. Wright was appointed to take the question under consideration with authority to act for the board.
The sum of eight hundred dollars ($800.00) was appropriated as a revolving fund for the use of the secretary of the society during the year 1916.
The following resolution was presented by Clarence Wedge and unanimously adopted by the board.
"Resolved: That the board favors the exclusive distribution of new varieties of fruits of probable commercial value originating at the State Fruit-Breeding Farm to members of the society and the trial stations of the state as at present practiced.
"Resolved further--That when a variety of fruits originating at the fruit breeding farm has been sufficiently tested to establish its commercial value in the state, it shall be given a name and the State Fruit-Breeding Farm shall cease to propagate it for distribution."
Adjourned sine die, THOS. E. CASHMAN, Chairman, pro tem.
A. W. LATHAM, Secretary.
* * * * *
Record of meeting held in the secretary's office June 22, 1916.
All members of the board were present except R. A. Wright.
Mr. John P. Andrews was elected by the board as its representative in connection with the assessment of damages on account of nursery stock to be destroyed in certain Minnesota nurseries to protect from injury threatened by a disease called "white pine blister rust."
Having under consideration the trial stations connected with the society it was decided to discontinue the station located at Madison, Minn., and locate a station at New Auburn, Minn., R. F. Hall, Supt., and another at Deerwood, Minn., L. P. Hall, Supt.
The following resolution pertaining to Farmers' Institutes was unanimously adopted.
"Resolved: That in our judgment the carrying out of the spirit and purpose of the motion adopted by the Farmers' Institute Board, Sept. 4, 1913, pertaining to 'the horticultural work on each institute corps'--to quite literally--cannot be fully performed except by providing for each institute corps some one who should in whole or in part represent horticulture, and who should be interested and willing to serve the Horticultural Society as indicated in said motion; and further, that reasonable opportunity for such service should be allowed at each place where an institute corps may be working."
It was decided to appropriate $65.00 to be applied to the uses of the Minnesota State Forestry Association.
The accounts of the Secretary from Nov. 30, 1915, to June 15, 1916, amounting to $4,112.82, were examined and approved, and an order drawn for the payment of that amount from the treasury, an equal amount to be covered into the treasury from the hands of the secretary.
Adjourned sine die, J. M. UNDERWOOD, Chairman Executive Board. A. W. LATHAM, Secretary.
Additions to Society Library, 1916.
(For preceding list see page 492, Report 1916).
Case. No.
Am. Pomological Socy., An. Rep., 1873 3 8 Am. Pomological Socy., An. Rep., 1871 3 9 Am. Pomological Socy., An. Rep., 1885 3 10 *Cyclopedia of American Agri., Bailey. Vol. 1 3 24 *Cyclopedia of American Agri., Bailey. Vol. 2 3 25 *Cyclopedia of American Agri., Bailey. Vol. 3 3 26 *Cyclopedia of American Agri., Bailey. Vol. 4 3 27 *Cyclopedia of Practical Hort., Lowther, 1916. Vol. 1 4 1 *Cyclopedia of Practical Hort., Lowther, 1916. Vol. 2 4 2 *Cyclopedia of Practical Hort., Lowther, 1916. Vol. 3 4 3 *Cyclopedia of Practical Hort., Lowther, 1916. Vol. 4 4 4 *Plums of New York, Hedrick, 1915 1 1 *Grapes of New York, Hedrick, 1915 1 2
FROM LIBRARY OF WYMAN ELLIOT: