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MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



4. The winter of ipoj-04 was one of the most severe for sev- 

 eral years, doing a great amount of damage to the orchards over 

 a large area of the northwest, and nearly all the semi-hardy varie- 

 ties were more or less injured. Large bearing trees of the Ben 

 Davis were, in nearly all locations in Minnesota, killed to the ground. 

 Some of them have thrown up strong, vigorous sprouts, and if 

 another hard winter does not come soon they may again become 

 remunerative and productive trees. We have a long list of hardy 

 varieties from which to choose that were not perceptibly affected 

 last winter. 



5. The Wealthy, Peter, Northwestern Greening and Patten's 

 Greening, University, Peerless, Thompson Seedlings, Malinda, Mc- 



View in E. R Perkins' seedling orchard, Red Wing. 



Mahon, Wolf River and Brett, all northern grown seedlings; and 

 the Russian varieties. Duchess, Borovinca, Charlamof, Anisim, An- 

 tonovka and several others, have wintered well and produced a 

 good crop oi fruit. All varieties like Ben Davis, Haas, Perry Rus- 

 sett and others of the semi-hardy class should be cautiously used 

 and recommended only for trial in limited quantity. Our experi- 

 ment stations located in various parts of the state should be a great 

 help in deciding what kinds can and what cannot be used success- 

 fully. 



6. Experience has taught me that seedlings at one year old can- 

 not be chosen with as much certainty of getting the best in habit 

 of growth and leaf as at two or three years after planting. In 



