HISTORY OF HORTICULTURE TN MINNESOTA. 121 



Mr. Harris thought the business of the meeting would be incomplete unless 

 we decided on, and recommended some varieties for cnlture, if not more than 

 three, so that new comers into the State would know where to begin. 



Mr. Gideon objected to the Society recommending any varieties. 



Mr. Baker also objected, because the imputation would be cast upon the 

 Society of partiality. 



Other members discussed the propriety of recommendation, for and against, 

 and the Society finally laid the report upon the table by a unanimous vote. 



Mr. Harris personally explained, that he did not sell trees, he was a market 

 gardener, and florist, and he desired it to be understood that he would not 

 reap a dollar's benefit from the recommendation of one or another variety. 



Mr. Harris offered the following : 



Resolved, That every member of this Society be reque;^ted to make a statement, in brief, 

 of his experience in fruit growing in Minnesota, with the names of the varieties that have 

 proved the best in his locality, and forward the same to the Recording Secretary to be filed 

 for the use of the Society. 



This resolution elicited some discussion, and the resolution was adopted 

 after striking out " experiences," and making the report to consist of each 

 with different varieties. 



Mr. Edward Ely, of Winona county, then read an essay, on the first efforts 

 at fruit growing, in his localitv. as follows : 



Being appointed by the Fall meeting of the State Horticultural Society to write a sketch 

 of the fruit growing of Winona county, I submit the following as a very brief outline of a 

 subject which is of no little importance to the future of Minnesota. 



I believe that it is generally conceded, that up to the present time, Winona county has 

 raised a larger quantity, if not a better quality of fruit, than any county in the State. Mr. 

 John Shaw has the honor of planting the first apple seeds in Winona county, or Southern 

 Minnesota. In the Fall of 1551, Mr. Shaw, of Exeter. Penobscot county. Maine, determined 

 to remove to the West. Before leaving, he gave out word to his neighbors that he wished to 

 take with him a quantity of apple seeds. As a result of this notice, he obtained ten or 

 twelve quarts of clear seed, made up in small quantities fiom his many neighbors. Mr. 

 Shaw first stopped in Galena, Illinois, to spend the Winter. At this place, he became 

 acquainted with some of the members of the Town and Village Association, whose destina- 

 tion was Minnesota City, at the mouth of the Rollingstone, six miles above the present city 

 of Winona. 



Mr. Shaw joiued the Association, and was among the first of the main body to reach the 

 place of destination. After finding the ground which was assigned him by a drawing which 

 was made in the city of New York, the headquarters of the Association, his first work was 

 to plant the apple seeds. This he did by selecting an open place in the timber, and breaking 

 the sod with a spade, planted the seed, then cut away the timber to give them the full light 

 and heat of the sun. It is perhaps a historical fact worth noting, that these seeds were the first 

 seeds of any kind ever planted in Southern Minnesota, if we except what was done by some 

 Indian trader. Mr. Shaw also brought with him sixty grafts of the choicest kinds of apples. 

 These, of course, he could not use. He only lived to see the seed come up. In about sixty 

 days he died from exposure incident to a new country. He was buried among the victims of 

 that season of mortality. While dying, he, by a verbal will, requested that the little trees 

 be divided among the members of the Association, and a committee was appointed to see 

 that his last request was carried out. 



This was the beginning of fruit growing in Winona county. The little spot where the 

 seed was planted was surrounded by a rude fence, and the trees grew up for several years 

 without much care. When large enough they were transplanted to nearly all the farms in 

 the neighborhood. They have now been bearing h'uit for several years, each year increasing 



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