160 ANNUAL REPORT 



eedling will ripen its fruit at or about the time the parent apple 

 did from which the seed were taken. The Gideon apple showed 

 the greatest variation, keeping two to three months longer than 

 the parent apple from which the seed were taken. 



The State orchard is only for the growing of seed, and no other 

 orchard can be set so near as to adulterate it. It is set alternately 

 in each row with an ironclad and a long keeper. The ironclads are 

 our owQ best seedlings, and the long keepers are the best to be had 

 from all parts of the word. Many of the long keepers fail on our 

 cross-bred seedlings, especially on those seedlings showing most 

 crab in their composition, but enough to me to make the trial a 

 success. The crab gets its growth early and stops its sap-flow, 

 hence we use it to top-graft later growing varieties on, as it stops 

 its sap-flow and thereby compels the later growing variety to 

 harden up for winter, and thus make a variety live and fruit that 

 otherwise would kill every winter, and thus get fruit from long, 

 keepers, hardened by ironclads that will in time give us a class of 

 ironclad long keepers of best quality, for in the orchard nothing 

 but the best of varieties are used ; nothing to adulterate; the suc- 

 cess is double sure. 



Four years ago last spring we started the State orchard on root 

 or crown grafts just set, the roots being seedlings of one and two 

 years' growth, and that it was successful, is only necessary to state 

 that if intruders had let the fruit alone we would have had 12 or 15 

 bushels, but it was mostly taken. Got a few and planted the seed, 

 so we are fairly in motion, and the result will soon be made mani- 

 fest. We have 762 trees in the State orchard, and some 40 long 

 keepers of best quality. Yet good as are our selection of varieties, 

 we anticipate great extremes — utter worthlessuess in some, and 

 great perfection in others. For such has been the past, and the 

 past is a guarantee for the future. 



The Gideon and Rebecca apples are about the same in size, but 

 differ in time of ripening, color and flavor, equally good, and of 

 same origin — from seed of a crab of our own growing. Neither of 

 them so large as the Wealthy, nor so flne in color. Season of 

 Rebecca, September, while the Gideon will keep until January. 



The blight Killed the original Rebecea tree in the month of June, 

 and before it had fruited, and being a promising looking tree, I cut 

 scions from it after the leaves had wilted, and grafted into a tree 

 near by, and thus saved a fine variety. 



We claim no less than 15 varieties of extra nice seedlings of our 

 own growing, the smallest being as large as the Transcendent 



