232 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Right down here in the basement of this building the man who 

 took the first premium on Wealthy and Peter, and the man who 

 put them on exhibition, told me and told Mr. Lyman that the 

 Wealthy and Peter were taken from the same tree. (Laughter.) 

 I think it is time the society called a halt on such proceedings, 

 and if there is no difference let us say so. I would like to put 

 this matter to a vote, and if there is anybody here who can tell 

 the difference I would like to have him come up here and look 

 at these apples and tell the audience which is which. If there is 

 any difference I would like to know it, and there are a whole lot 

 of other people who would like to know it. These came from 

 the Gideon farm, and I would like to know whether there is any 

 one present who is able to identify them. 



Mr. Elliot : Before we vote I want to have the privilege of 

 putting my knife into each of those apples. 



Mr. O. M. Lord : I had a talk with Mr. Gideon before he died 

 in regard to the Wealthy and Peter. I told him I had always 

 supposed the Peter to be a seedling by itself. He said the Peter 

 was a seedling of the Wealthy, but there was so little difference 

 between the two that it was hardly worth naming, that he could 

 not tell the Peter from the Wealth)^ any way in the world except 

 by cutting into it. He said it looked like the Wealthy and was 

 the Wealthy to all intents and purposes, but when he cut into 

 an apple and it was streaked with red he called it the Peter. 



Mr. Elliot : Since this matter regarding the difference be- 

 tween the Wealthy and the Peter has been agitated I have cut a 

 thousand or two thousand apples. I have taken every oppor- 

 tunity possible in the last three years to inform myself as to the 

 difference between the two varieties, but previous to that Mr. 

 Gideon told me about the Peter and Wealthy and pointed out to 

 me the exact location where each tree grew. They have long 

 since passed out of existence, both of them. The Wealthy threw 

 up some sprouts a few years ago, which were distributed by his 

 son, and I have three of the trees that grew from those sprouts, 

 but it does not give me any light in regard to the variety. Some 

 claim that a change comes over the fruit in the method of pro- 

 pagation. How true that claim is I do not know. Now in regard 

 to the difference between the Wealthy and Peter as grown to- 

 day, I claim there is a difference, but not so much difference that 

 you can always tell upon which tree the apples grew. But there 

 is something in this agitation that Mr. Brackett is raising of mak- 

 ing the two into one. Some nurserymen claim they can tell the 

 difference almost as far as they can see the trees. Among others, 

 Mr. Patten and Mr. Sherman, of Iowa, make this claim. We have 

 people who take the other side of the question. Prof. Hansen 

 and I have cut a great many apples together trying to find 

 whether we could find any distinguishing marks, and I have con- 

 tinued that practice right along, and I found in our orchard at 

 Lake Minnetonka a difference in the productiveness and also in 

 the formation of the seed, the seed carpels, calyx and blossom, 

 and also somewhat in the shape of the apples. I think I can dis- 



