li. 20 5 Rel OR 
Te 
i 
SIBERIAN STOCK FOR THE APPLE. 145 
of three years the experiment on the whole was considered flattering, but 
the roots of some trees, and now noticeably in some varieties, did not 
appear as large as they should be for the size of the trees. The fourth year 
developed a marked deficiency in the roots of some sorts. As I now re- 
member, Tetofsky and Duchess had poor roots at three year old, while 
Wealthy and Walbridge held on well till five or six years. Perry Russett, 
also, and Saxton were among the best and the longest to keep control over 
the Siberian root. As the years went on it was apparent that there was a 
want of adaptation between stocks and scions, and it must be written up as, 
on the whole, a signal failure. At first the root was stunted, and in turn the 
tree was not sufficiently nourished and became dwarfed. The crab root 
prematurely ripened, and that led to a second flow of sap in the fall which 
put the trees in a tender condition for the winter and made them more tender 
than upon apple roots. 
This experiment was begun with much confidence, as the Siberian seed- 
lings were very fine, and the work was carried on with reasonable care. To 
repeat the experiment with seeds of those varieties would be a waste of 
time and money. Had I had the seeds of Whitney No. 20, Briar’s Sweet, 
Minnesota and Sweet Russet, or other comparatively non-blighting sorts 
with as much of the apple blood in them, I have no doubt that my experi- 
ment would have been attended with reasonable success, and that the trees 
so grown would have been much superior to those on purely apple seed- 
lings. I would not dare risk very much on the seedlings of the Virginia 
crab, or of any other sort that shows so much of the Siberian, both in tree 
and fruit. The idea of making a difference, or trying to, between Pyrus 
baccata, and any other form of Siberian crab, appears to me to be visionary. 
The Siberians are so mixed and blended in this country that it is impossible 
to separate them. It is well, no doubt, to try the Virginia seed but useless 
to try the smaller Siberians, even to develop better varieties of crab apples. 
FACTS ABOUT THE WEATHER OF 1899 IN MINNESOTA 
OF INTEREST TO THE HORTICULTURIST. 
T. S. OUTRAM, WEATHER OBSERVER, MINNEAPOLIS. 
A discussion of the subject of weather almost necessarily compels a 
comparison of weather records, for we regard a season as unusual only 
when some particular factor differs from what we have been taught by ex- 
perience to expect at the place and time in question. 
Many believe that the climate is gradually changing, but it is a fact that 
it varies from the general type only within quite narrow limits, and it is 
also certain that what has happened will happen in the future. For instance, 
the lowest temperature recorded in Minneapolis in any January since 1891 
was —26°, and the highest minimum temperature in the same time was —2°, 
from which it is reasonable to suppose that in very few years will the low- 
est January temperature be below —26°, and we can expect very few Jan- 
uarys in which the temperature will not fall to —2°. An endeavor has fre- 
quently been made to build up a system that might be called long range 
_ forecasting, or seasonal forecasting, by arranging the more pronounced de- 
partures from the normal into groups or periods, and if it is found that a 
few of these periods recur with something resembling a periodicity, it is 
concluded at once that a general law has been established; but unfortunately 
