48 ANXUAL REPORT 



by the severe cold of 1880. He wished it understood that the degree 

 of injury varied, and that some trees, though injured, were still worth 

 planting. 



The Duchess, though injured in some localities, escaped in others. 

 Said the Wealthy proved one of the hardiest. 



In further discussion of this question, Mr. Gibbs said: 

 If by the question is meant, whether we have a variety hardy enough 

 to endure both our summer blights and our occasional sudden changes 

 from extremes of heat and cold, and long periods of low temperature, 

 in our winter season, without injury, in the sense that our common 

 forest trees are hardy, it must be answered in the negative, at least so 

 far as general experience extends; but if it is meant whether we have a 

 variety that with reasonable protection, is sufficiently hardy to supply 

 us with fruit till we can hud something more hardy or perfectly hardy, 

 then we can answer in the negative, and point to our Duchess and 

 Wealthy, and claim truthfully that they are profitable varieties to 

 plant. It is common to hear it said that the Wealthy and Duchess are 

 as hardy as the bur oaks and cottonwoods, yet every nursery man and 

 every orchardist of much experience knows to the contrary. The 

 Wealthy will take the blight from the blighting crabs, especially from 

 the transcendent, if growing near them; both Duchess and Wealthy 

 are liable to "sunscald"' on the southerly sides if not protected or grow- 

 iug on very cool, airy, northern slopes, and both of them in such 

 winters as 1873 and 1879-80 are hurt all over and all through, though 

 not so badly, unless root-killed, w^hich is rare, as to prevent recovery, 

 or even in the bearing sizes, to destroy the next years crop. In my 

 opinion, the best service we, as a society can do the people of our State 

 at present is, to admit the tenderness of even our hardiest sorts, to 

 preach the necessity of constant protection of our fruit ti'ees, showing 

 if we can what the best methods of protection are; and the next best 

 we can do, is stimulate and encourage the production of new seedlings 

 by processes that shall give a gradually increasing hardiness from gen- 

 eration to generation, till we reach in time, that gi-eat desideratum — 

 "a pomology of our own." 



MONDAY EVENING. 



Paper by Isaac Fawcett, of Minneapolis. 



STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 



The published transactious, as well as the various horticultural periodicals and 

 fruit books of any pretensions, are replete with careful and accurate information 

 about planting, cultivating and marketing the strawberry. I therefore trust I am 



