330 ANNUAL REPORT 



below. They speak for themselves without comment ; but a curi- 

 ous feature is, that Iowa and Wisconsin are shown to have suf- 

 fered more than Minnesota, and the latter worse in the southern 

 part than anywhere else. President Harris' letter, from La Cres- 

 cent, which is given in full, being the most discouraging of all : 



LETTER FROM PRESIDENT J. S. HARRIS. 



La Crescent, Minn., April. 16, 1883. 



The limited time given for an answer to your circular of 

 April 1st, does not allow me time to give it as thorough at- 

 tention as it deserves. I am making some observations almost 

 daily, and feel pretty safe in paying that the general condition of 

 fruit trees in this section is not worse than in the spring of 1881, 

 and that I did not consider it discouraging to our hope of final 

 success with the apple. The Duchess of Oldenburgh is probably 

 entirely free from injury, under all circumstances, as are also 

 nearly all of the Siberian scions. The Maiden's Blush, Minne- 

 sota, and one sweet variety are a little discolored. Farther exami- 

 nation shows the "Wealthy more injured than I stated in my letter 

 to the Farmers' Union last week. The injury will make trees 

 shorter lived, as it is at the point where the branches leave the 

 trunk, but will not make the tree less valuable for fruit until after 

 decay sets in. All the varieties recommended by our Society bid 

 fair for a crop of fruit this season. Plumb's Cider can hardly re- 

 cover from its injuries. Several of the seedlings show no injury 

 whatever. Native plums are all right. Flemish Beauty pears 

 badly blackened. Fruit buds on cherries mostly killed. Straw- 

 berries, whether covered or not, look promising. The Gregg, 

 Black Cap, and most of the red raspberries are killed down to the 

 snow line, and some of the blackberries are considerabl}'- injured. 

 Grrapes, where they have received any protection, except the Pren- 

 tiss, are perfectly sound. When unprotected all varieties, except 

 Concord, Moore's, Early, Janesville and Worden, are injured above 

 the snow line. 



I find that on northern slopes and high elevations the injuries 

 show less than in low valleys and warm southern exposures. I 

 have not given much attention to ornamental trees and shrubbery, 

 but the great number of Norway spruce, that show red foliage, can- 

 not help but be noticed. Have seen no other evergreens that ap- 

 pear to be injured. 



