206 HISTORY OP HORTICULTURE IN MINNESOTA. 



On the Voli^a and on the steppes of the Caspitm, all the fruits I have named, 

 including varieties of the peach, are profitably cultivated. 



Xavier Honnnaire de Hell, in his travels over the steppes of the Caspian, 

 in 1838, describes a splendid fruit garden, owned by a Russian noble, at 

 Clereofka, where he says "all kinds of fruits are collected here together. 

 We counted more than fifty varieties of pears in one alley." 



Adolph Erman in his travels through Russia and vSiberia in 1840, mentions 

 with surprise that he found at Torxhok, on the road from Moscow to Saint 

 Petersburg, north of latitude 57 deg.,and at Vladimir, north of 50 deg., that 

 " cherries of a superior kind " were extensively grown and sold at a very low 

 price. 



There are also extensive orchards of apples at Vladimir, which is famed in 

 Russia as a fruit region. 



There are other Continental or interior localities much further south of the 

 places named, where from climatic conditions, the Winteis are intensely cold, 

 and the Summers dry and hot from which we may procure varieties of fruit 

 trees adapted to our climate. Of these I may mention Astrachan, and Rus- 

 sian Armenia, in which Erivan is the most celebrated for its numerous and 

 extensive orchards and vineyards. The Summers are hot. and I judge nmch 

 like our own, but the Winters so cold that it is necessary to cover the grape 

 vines with earth to preserve them. My information on this subject is de- 

 rived from the voluminous work of Montpereux, Avho visited that region in 

 1838. lie states that there are there 1,470 gardens planted in vines, apple and 

 pear trees, the sale of the fruit of which constitutes the principalrevenue of 

 the place. The same author mentions other places in the Caucasus mountain 

 range between the Black Sea and the Caspian, where the fruits named are 

 extensively cultivated, and where some varieties of wild grapes are equal 

 to the cultivated varieties of France. 



In Dr. Clark's Travels in Norway and Sweden, puljlished in 1838, there is 

 frequent reference to the excellent apples, pears and cherries found by the 

 author growing in those countries. 



He was much surprised and delighted with the horticultural improvements 

 at Trondhjem in Norway, 63 deg. 25 min. north. He says, speaking of the 

 town: "The houses are handsome, regular, large and airy, with pleasant 

 gardens full of fruit and flowers, worthy of note in such a northern latitude, 

 apples, pears, plums, cherries, strawberries," &c. 



Surely these facts ought to encourage us to persevere in our efforts to ob- 

 tain varieties of standard fruits adapted to our climate. 



We must, I think, for entire success in our day and generation, procure by 

 some means, for naturalization in Minnesota, varieties which thrive in the 

 cold countries referred to, and especially from the continental or interior 

 parts of Russia and Northern China, where the climate is like ours, not only 

 intensely cold in Winter, but also drj% as compared with maritime or lake 

 coasts, and hot in Summer; and the growing seasons of which are short like 

 ours. 



Apples are successfully cnltivatod in climates where the Winters are far 

 more severe than ours. Sir George Simpson, the late Governor of Hudson 

 Bay Territories, gives in his Voyage Round the World, an account of his visit 

 to Burnaul, in Siberia, which is north of the Little Altai mountains and of 

 Northern China. He states as a fact that apples are cultivated there. 



