308 ANNUAL REPORT 



Some winter varieties are well known in many parts of central 

 Russia, but we also foynd choice varieties which have long been 

 here and not distributed in other provinces. For instance here 

 we found 300 trees of a variety bearing the name of an estate, "Bog- 

 danoffa," or in English "God given." It has been in the family for 

 200 years, and is much prized on account of its extreme hardiness 

 of tree, and the size, beauty, quality and keeping capacity of the 

 fruit. It closely resembles our Dominie but has a richer coloring 

 and is much larger. I at once called it a " glorified Dominie." It 

 is now very firm and will keep till May. The tree is as upright in 

 growth as our Gros Pomier, and it has proven as hardy in this try- 

 ing climate as the A.ntonooka, which in turn is hardier than the 

 type of apples grown here, resembling in tree and fruit our Duchess. 



Another local apple grown here largely, is known as the Kursk 

 Steklanka. It is shaped like a medium sized Alexander. It is also 

 a late keeper and of good quality. Still another very late keeper of 

 larger size but only of second quality, is known as "Chugounka" 

 or English "cast iron." A hasty examination would convince the 

 most skeptical that central Russia can produce apples of large size 

 and fine appearance that will keep until the next harvest time 

 with the most common care. We are promised scions of these and 

 other fine apples and pears. 



I should add a word about the climate here. Perhaps on account 

 of the porous character of the soil, and the more uncertain time of 

 the first snow fall, trees suffer about as badly here as at a point two 

 hundred miles north, yet the varieties largely planted attain larger 

 size and greater longevity than in the extreme north. This is the 

 section where I expected to meet the best winter apples adapted to 

 our latitude and soil, and my expectations have been more than 

 realized. At this moment we have twelve varieties on our table, 

 which would grace any exhibition table we have had in Iowa, and 

 most of them are of first-class quality. 



To illustrate the relative value of the true Russian apples, I will 

 say that a large trial orchard was planted a few years ago on the 

 estate we have to-day visited, mainly with varieties from the most 

 trying portions of Germany. This was done at the suggestion of 

 a German gardener, who urged that it was too conservative to 

 stick to the ancient varieties of their forefathers. In five years it 

 ivas a total wreck and the places filled with the tried and true sorts 

 The trials with the hardiest pears of south Europe have been equally 

 failures, yet pears are grown of good quality on large trees that 

 have often stood unscathed a temperature of 35 deg. Fah. But the 



