106 Mississippi Valley Horticultural Society. 



MINNESOTA UP TO THE FORTY-FIFTH PARALLEL, 



including Southern Dakota and Northern Wisconsin, will reach the highest at- 

 tainable success with the fruits of Simbrisk, Penza, Riazan and Tula, on the 

 north line of the black soil section of Central Russia. The visitors to these 

 little known provinces, reaching up to the 55th parallel of north latitude, 

 will be surprised to find so manj' varieties of excellent apples for all seasons, 

 and so many variations of the indigenous Bergamot and Gucha pear, most of 

 which are excellent for culinary use, and a few are from fair to good for eat- 

 ing. 



The only forms of the cherry grown in quantity are of the Griotte race, 

 and the trees are grown in commercial orchards, in hush fomi, with several 

 stems, and pruned on the renewal system of taking out the old wood. In 

 size, flavor, and amount of grape sugar, they far excel any one of the Kentish 

 type found in South Europe. 



To those who may conclude that the apples of this high latitude in Europe 

 will materially change their season of maturity when grown in the Minne- 

 sota belt ten degrees farther south, it will be well to suggest that the prevail- 

 ing summer winds of this part of Russia are from the southeast, coming uj) 

 from Persia, Arabia and tlie heated steppes of Southeastern Russia. Hence 

 the average summer temperature is really higher than that of the Minnesota 

 belt across our valley, while the winters are much colder and with less aver- 

 age snowfall. 



In the extreme upper portion of our valley, in 



NORTHERN DAKOTA AND MINNESOTA, 



even in the great valley with a northern trend at Lake Winnepeg, the possi- 

 bility of successfully growing the apple, pear and cherry exists. The ancient 

 provinces of Kazan, Nishni-Novgorod and Vladimir — even north and far to 

 the east of Moscow, on the o7th parallel of north latitude — grow apples for 

 all seasons, of excellent quality in a commercial way. In this coldest orchard 

 region of the world the little trees seem as hardy as the Siberian crabs, yet 

 the fruit sells well in Moscow in competition with that from the south. 



The far northern pears of this section arc quite as hardy in tree, but the 

 fruit is too low in quality for consumption in the large cities. Yet it is 

 grown in great quantity for culinary use among the peasants and for export- 

 ing to Perm, on the northeast verge of the plain. As an ornamental tree 

 this far northern form of the Bergamot has much merit, and it gives us a 

 hint of possibilities in the way of originating, by crossing pears of excellent 

 quality for the extreme northwest. 



The cherries of this region have had a historic record for centuries. In 

 Vladimir, one hundred and fifty miles east and north of Mo.scdw, they arc 

 grown in quantity too surprising for ])opular belief in our valley. Tliough 

 somewhat smaller than tlie best Griottes of the south ])arts of the plain, some 

 of the Vladimir varieties are nearly sweet and of decidedly good quality for 



