186 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The state should make an extra appropriation for this plant-breeding 

 farm because it would be a business proposition. The people of our 

 state would be the ones benefited by it. After ten or fifteen years the 

 state could boast of an ideal apple for each one of our horticultural dis- 

 tricts, an ideal plum, grape, etc. At the Minnesota plant-breeding farm 

 already great results are in evidence, and our problems here in Nebraska 

 are even greater than those in Minnesota because our range is wider, 

 our material more abundant, and our results will be even of greater 

 value. 



The work in general as such a horticultural plant-breeding farm 

 would be the getting together of every variety suitable for breeding 

 work, and then using these in hand crossing work according to the re- 

 sults to be produced. 



First of all, I would place our native fruits and flowers. Out here in 

 Scottsbluff county, where I believe climatic conditions are about the 

 worst in the state, we have growing wild a red, yellow, and a black cur- 

 rant, plums, grapes, gooseberries, sand cherries, buffalo berries, and 

 choke cherries, and the farther east we go the greater is the number of 

 wild fruits found native. 



The wild varieties should be used for mother stock so as to insure 

 hardiness and vigor in the resultant cross. These could be crossed with 

 the best varieties under cultivation. For apples we could use the Hiber- 

 nal, Duchess, and Malinda or other very hardy species of the mother 

 stock, crossing them with the varieties under cultivation of best quality 

 and with best bearing, shipping, and keeping characteristics. 



There is no end of desirable work that could be done along these 

 lines. This is all practical work, and would be of great practical value 

 to our state. Not only could we produce strictly hardy and all-around 

 desirable varieties for the western part of the state, but we could even 

 improve over our varieties generally planted in the favorable southeast- 

 ern part of the state. 



Would it not be worth while to produce a variety of apple as good 

 as the Grimes' Golden, as hardy and prolific as the Duchess, as good 

 keeper as the Ben Davis, combined with other desirable features? For 

 western Nebraska we want an all-around good strawberry, raspberry, 

 grape and plum — in fact every kind of fruit. Likewise every fruit tree, 

 shrub, and flower of the entire state can be improved on. 



Good old Father Harrison (young in spirits, however) has done not- 

 able work in improving the peony, phlox, and other perennials. He saw 

 the chance and need of improvement and has given a lot of his time and 

 money for this improvement work. If we only had a hundred more men 

 like him. In Minnesota we all hear of Peter M. Gideon who originated 

 the Wealthy apple at great personal sacrifices. Other similar instances 

 could be cited, but as a whole such men are scarce and their means will 

 often not permit them to do their favorite work, even though their hearts 

 are willing. 



Therefore, let the state; we, the people; we, the citizens of Nebraska 



