15 
it is better to grow fruit themselves, and orchards are being planted by them now, owing? 
more or less, to the advice and example given them by us, which served as an interesting 
object lesson to them. I have no doubt that fruit growing will become very general 
there within the next ten or twelve years. In the North-west one farm is located in one 
of the great wheat belts of Manitoba, and the other on the verge of the prairie district 
in the territory, where the climate is a continuation of the great American desert, and 
the rainfall is lacking which they get further east, in Manitoba, In those districts we 
‘are endeavoring to test such varieties as can be obtained in Russia, Silesia and different 
other European countries—the apples, pears and plums that are found to grow in similar 
districts there. We are also trying to get from our neighbors in Minnesota such fruits 
_as they have adapted to the North-west. I have no doubt that in a few years we shall 
be able to establish a degree of reciprocity with them in that line, whether a reciprocity 
treaty be negotiated or not. I made an attempt in that direction recently, when in 
Washington, and succeeded so well that the Secretary there has placed us on the list of 
. Experimental Stations which receive samples of the seeds and products the United 
States receives from abroad, and we shall send them any we may introduce as soon as we 
possibly can. I think this reciprocal interchange among our fruit growers and those of 
the United States will do good, and our neighbors across the line are so good-natured 
that it is pleasant to get among them to negotiate with them these little trifles of bar- 
gains. Of course we generally try to get a little the better of them; it would not do for 
us to lose the reputation we have gained in that respect. The United States have done 
a great deal in this direction, in the introduction of new trees from Russia for testing in 
the colder climates of this continent, and none of them so much as Iowa. Professor 
Budd has been associated with our own Mr. Gibb, of Abbotsford, P.Q. They travelled 
together through Russia, and secured and introduced into this country many new varie- 
ties of fruits, giving promise of being adapted to the requirements and climate of the 
country. A few weeks ago, while at Indian Head, I went very carefully over the 
Russian apples sent up a year ago last spring, which have stood two summers and one 
winter, and I must say the success attending their growth was very gratifying, although 
‘the season has been unusually trying, the rainfall being little more than five inches 
between April and September, and the trees manifested a degree of hardihood and vigor 
that I think augurs well for the future. Not only apples, but some cherries also, pro- 
mised very well ; and through the energy of our excellent secretary, we are now on the 
eve of getting from another part of Russia a consignment of trees of a very promising 
sort, which I trust will prove another very valuable addition to the list we are trying to 
grow at the present time. Apart from these introductions we are trying to originate 
new fruit. I will give you one experiment now in progress, from which you will have 
an idea of the work we are trying to do in this respect. The town of Riga, in Russia, 
is, I suppose, about a thousand miles north of the latitude of Winnipeg, and around that 
district a great many varieties of fruit are grown, and even north of that in Russia, 
where the climate is very cold, and they have dry winds something like those in our 
own prairie district. Through the kindness of a seedsman in that town I have been able 
to secure a considerable quantity of seed of apples, pears and cherries which have been 
ripened and sold in the markets in towns north of that place. From these seeds—I 
think I am within the mark—fifteen hundred trees have been grown ; seedling trees, 
which will be planted out in orchards in Ottawa and at the North-west farm, and it is 
expected that by thus multiplying the chances of success almost ad libitwm, we shall, in 
a very short time, get some varieties to manifest that degree of hardiness to make them 
meet the great want of our people all over the country. In addition to growing seed- 
lings in the way I have outlined, we are endeavoring, by cross-fertilization with the 
hardiest fruits we have, to produce new varieties. You must not think all our labors 
are devoted to the interests of the North-west, or the colder sections of the country 
however. We are endeavoring to help the dwellers in such situations as yours in Essex, 
and other favored parts of the country, by introducing and testing new varieties as they 
come out. We hope by testing these new varieties, some of which are so highly !auded 
and little deserving of it, to be able to save many a farmer a very large expenditure, to 
which he has been hitherto subject, in having to test these things for himself. These 
