468 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



WHAT APPLES TO PLANT. 



(Parliament Hour.) 



Mr. Frank Yahnke : On the 23rd. day of November I read a 

 quotation on annles from Duluth. They were quoted Hke this : the 

 Ben Davis was first. Why is this apple quoted so high ? There was the 

 Ben Davis and the Jonathan on the same line. Then came the Pippin 

 at $4.50 a barrel ; then came the Tallman Sweet at $4.50, the King 

 $5, the Greening $4.50 and the Russet $4.50. Now what can we learn 

 from these quotations? One thing we can learn is what to plant to 

 be profitable. We cannot grow all the varieties named here, but we 

 can grow most of them, and we have other varieties that are as 

 good or better. Now, how can we do it ? We have varieties on the 

 tables below that are equal to them, and some of them are superior 

 to those named. Now, so far as the Ben Davis is concerned we have 

 any amount of apples growing in the state that are far ahead of the 

 Ben Davis. The highest quoted apple, the King, we cannot raise. 

 However, we have apples that are just as good as the King. Then 

 there is the Jonathan, we cannot grow that either, but Mr. Elliot 

 has an apple named the Lord that is fully equal to the Jonathan. 

 Now we have sweet apples on the table that will outsell the Tallman 

 Sweet at any time, and the thing for us to do is to have recognized 

 one or two varieties which are adapted to our markets and give 

 them prominence, and those which are not adapted to our markets 

 we should keep in the background. We have varieties that will 

 compare in every respect with the best varieties sent here from the 

 east. 



W^e have a market right at our doors. We save freight, we 

 save the middleman's expense, and we save the expense of hand- 

 ling them, and we can grow apples just as cheap in Minnesota as 

 they can in New York and even cheaper. In New York they have 

 to fight insects worse than we do here. Apples in New York 

 are a good deal more expensive to grow. They need more ex- 

 pensive treatment — and if we would not pay so much attention to 

 the way New York people do it and more to our own original way 

 we would raise more and better fruit, and we would be more success- 

 ful in every way. The trouble is we are trying to imitate some other 

 part of the country in raising apples, and I would like to dis- 

 courage that practice. There are thousands of acres of land on the 

 Mississippi that are lying idle, they are not worth a cent an acre 

 for agricultural purposes. You will find them not only on the 

 Mississippi, but all over the state, even on the prairies, but by 

 judicious handling they may be made to produce great big crops. 

 It is for us to do it. I would like to hear from others on this sub- 

 ject. I would rather speak with you than to you. I would like to 

 hear from any one who has a suggestion to make on this topic. 



Mr. O. F. Brand : I think we want to emphasize what Brother 



Yahnke says about quality in apples and not quantity so far as 



, the apples we originate here are concerned. My attention was 



