REPORT ON SEEDLINGS, 1899. 149 
apples and the newer, or seedling varieties that have been originated in the 
northwest. Here the Russians have been given the most extensive and thor- 
ough trial of all points in the state, and as they are all carefully labeled, they 
should be looked after and noted in order to more quickly determine which 
of the varieties will prove most desirable for general cultivation. Among 
newer varieties Patten’s Greening is promising to be one of the very best. 
It stood through last winter without. any injury and is very exempt from 
blight. 
At Austin F. W. Kimball is coming to the front as an experimental 
orchardist. His place is not one of the most favorable locations, the soil 
being underlaid with gravel too near the surface. He is testing a great 
number of varieties, chiefly top-worked upon Hibernal and Virginia stocks. 
He met with considerable loss last winter by root-killing. We dug out a 
number of the injured trees and found that the roots below the graft were 
entirely dead, while the Hibernals and Virginias down to the point of 
grafting were not injured. Where no roots had formed above the original 
grafted root, growth did not start, and the trees were soon dried up; but 
those that had rooted above the point of grafting opened their buds and 
showed life in proportion to the amount of roots formed. It appeared a 
. good object lesson in favor of shelter on the south and west sides. The 
root-killing was confined to two rows on the south side, and the protection 
on the south and south end of the west was too distant and not ample. 
The little snow falling was blown into rows beyond and held there by a 
row of raspberry bushes about four feet from the next row, and gooseberry 
and other plants through other parts of the orchard. The loss of snow and 
evaporation of moisture from soil by sun and winds undoubtedly led to the 
injury, as a slight protection near the surface of the ground seemed to have 
saved the remainder of the orchard. The injury to tops of trees was very 
slight, and there was no blight in the orchard this season, which Mr. Kim- 
ball attributes largely to having taken out all trees of Transcendent crab. 
Spring Valley—The Nelson seedling, at this place, is one of the most 
promising trees I have yet come across. Not even the terminal buds were 
in the least discolored by the cold of last winter. It is from seed of an un- 
known variety and was planted in 1872. The tree is said to have never shown 
any signs of blight and does not at the present time show that it has ever 
received injury from any cause. It a vigorous grower. The head of the 
tree starts at three feet above the ground, and the trunk measures three 
feet in circumference at two feet above the ground. It is a very heavy bearer, 
on alternate years, of fruit as large and fine appearing and of better quality 
than the Duchess. Season, two weeks later. Here we saw trees of the 
North Star and University (Patten’s 102), and both had come through 
the winter without any discoloration of wood or other injury. 
Homer.—Here considerable attention is paid to the growing of cher- 
ries, and every village garden contains from a dozen to hundreds of trees. 
The variety doing the best and most generally planted is called English 
Morello. It appears to be hardier than the Early Richmond. While none 
of the trees seemed to be injured by the last winter, the fruit buds were un- 
doubtedly injured, as the crop of fruit this season was very light. Last 
year the crop was unusually large and fine. The variety was introduced 
here from Connecticut by S. A. Alling, and the trees planted are on their own 
roots, being neither grafted mor budded but raised from root sprouts, or 
