STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 297 



factory way, and to identify with absolute certainty. So far we 

 have not seen a winter variety of free, upright growth in nursery 

 or orchard. In large proprietor orchards planted thirty years ago, 

 the largest trees are only five inches in diameter, and can be planted 

 as closely as dwarf trees are planted with us. Really they all be- 

 long to a dwarf species. Last winter Senator Larrabee stated at 

 the annual meeting of the State Horticultural Society, that he had 

 received some Russian trees from the Agricultural College, but he 

 did not like to plant them as they were too small and scrubby. I 

 tried to explain that it was not the fault of the grower, or the 

 ground on which they were grown, but that I believed the Russian 

 winter varieties belonged to a dwarf race. While here among the 

 dwarf orchards loaded with fine fruit, I wish to impress the idea 

 that we must not reject the Russian apples because they fail to 

 make nice trees in the nursery. We grow fruit trees for fruit, and 

 our friends may rest assured that the future orchards, giving profit 

 to their owners, of northern and central Iowa, will be planted with 

 true blue Russian varieties, such as are grown in central Russia. 



Many of the summer varieties of the Aport and Oldenburg type 

 grow more freely when young, but none of the full bloods found 

 here become large trees. I have now doubts about the Duchess 

 being a full blood Russian. We find here many varieties much 

 like it in tree and fruit, but none of them are as coarse in flesh, as 

 acid, or as strong in growth of tree as the latter. In Germany and 

 ^Poland we found varieties more like the Duchess than we find here, 

 but they are plainly crosses with the true Astrachanica. Some of 

 the Aports of this section are large, highly colored, good, and keep 

 well into winter, as they would in northern [owa. Four kinds of 

 Anise are grown for winter use varying more in color than in size 

 and qualitj'. In size they are about like Jonathan, but in form 

 they resemble large sized Winesaps. None of the true winter ap- 

 ples are larger than the Ben Davis, and most of the longest keep- 

 ers are not larger as grown here than the Jonathan, We find the 

 Russians are quite fond of juicy sweet apples. As a rule the apples 

 brought us to eat in the Russian villages have been bright red, 

 juicy, sweet varieties, which will prove valuable with us; yet the 

 favorite winter varieties are here all mildly subacid. I do not 

 think of a decidedly sour apple that I have tasted in the province 

 of Kazan. 



