56 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Plums. Speaking of plums, I think that every tree in the first 

 district bore plums. I judge from the quantities that came to mar- 

 ket brought in by those not in the habit of raising plums, De Soto, 

 Wyant, Stoddard, Rollingstone, Hawkeye, Cheney, in fact any 

 variety you could name, and hundreds that you could not name, were 

 well represented. De Soto plums lead in their season ; those that 

 know wait for them for canning. 



My neighbor, Mr. Yahnke, has a large orchard of Stoddard that 

 this year brought him in, as they say, good money. The Forest 

 Garden, with me at least, with ten or more props to the tree, broke 

 badly. I wish to say right here, I hope some one during this meet- 

 ing will bring up the question, "What is the difference, if any, be- 

 tween the Stoddard and Hawkeye ?" 



Currants and gooseberries are infested with worms that will de- 

 stroy the bushes unless kept in subjection by the judicious use of 

 helleboro or Paris green. 



The question of blight on apple trees is one of a serious nature, 

 with, so far as I know, no known remedy that successfully combats 

 the disease. In our immediate neighborhood it was peculiar this 

 season. For years the orchards, or portions of them, on the high 

 lands have blighted badly, notably the Wealthy trees, while near the 

 river they were comparatively free from it. But this year exactly 

 the reverse was the case, and my Wealthy trees blighted less than 

 any season since they were set, while those along the river blighted 

 very much worse than ever before. Can any one account for it? 

 Some may say, you probably sprayed more than your neighbors. 

 The facts are that I never sprayed a spoonful, while I know the 

 orchards along the river were well and properly sprayed. 



I have watched very carefully blight on cherry trees this season. 

 The trees seem to have pulled through and matured their wood 

 in better shape than for several years before, less of the yellow 

 leaves that die and fall off early in the season and a smaller per- 

 centage of dead trees. There has another enemy of the cherry tree 

 appeared within the last year or two in our section, an ugly looking 

 slug that will skeletonize the leaves and will, of course, eventually 

 kill the trees unless in some manner destroyed. I have no reports 

 on the subject from cherry growers. 



Of currants, Fay's Prolific, Red Cross and Red Dutch seem to 

 lead. Strawberries : Bederwood, Warfield, Dunlap. Raspberries : 

 Loudon for red, Gregg for black. Blackberries : Ancient Briton, 

 Rathburn. Plums : De Soto, Forest Garden, Stoddard, Surprise. 



In answer to the following question, "If you were going to plant 

 a new orchard, what three or four varieties of apples would lead in 

 your selection?" 



