390 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
ty; on the shores of Graham lake, a vast, treeless, trackless plain, with its 
magnificent stretches of undulating prairie lands, waiting for the industrious 
husbandman to transform, as if by magic, the entire appearance of the 
country, a broad, enterprising and magnificent undertaking. 
Who could foresee, or even dream, at that time of the marvelous change 
that has taken place or of the deeds that have been accomplished? At this 
time, 1899, there is not a vacant quarter section of land in our county; the 
hillsides and valleys are dotted with splendid groves; long stretches of trees 
or willow hedges line our roadways; windbreaks have been established; 
orchards of apples, crabs, plums and cherries, with an abundance of small 
fruits, are bearing in profusion and perfection. 
Twenty-seven years ago Mr. E. C. Abbott lost his feet in a blizzard, 
disabling him for farm labor. A friend set him out an orchard of apple 
trees. Some of those trees have gone the way of all flesh and are perished, 
but the king of standbys, the Duchess, are still bearing large crops of nice, 
smooth ‘apples, last year producing three hundred bushels on one-half acre. 
As has been rightly stated, the man who plants Duchess will raise apples. 
Following the Duchess, but not behind it, is the grand queen of apples, 
the Wealthy, with its intense desire to bear young, and regularly producing 
crops of nice, smooth, red cheeked, finely flavored apples, of fair keeping 
quality and nearly as hardy as the hardiest, an excellent, good all round 
apple—by far a better, apple or tree raised in our country than the same 
variety raised in eastern Iowa. More than one-half of the apples raised in 
our part of the state this year were Wealthy. 
Patten’s Greening.—I can take you to an orchard of Patten’s Greening 
trees set out fourteen years ago that last year bore over ten bushels oi No. 1 
apples to the tree, limbs loaded with apples from the ground on one side of 
the tree to the ground on the other side— a typical form for the country. 
This years they bore a fair crop, and the trees have made a good growth 
and are in a thrifty and healthy condition. I consider an orchard of Patten’s 
Greening, with proper care and protection, as good and safe an investment 
as raising any other kind of crop. I have large hopes for this variety. 
The Hibernal keeps up her record for hardiness, but being recently 
planted I know of none bearing at present. 
Iowa Beauty is giving very good satisfaction to those who are raising 
them. 
Tetofsky and Yellow Transparent fill an important place in our lists, 
being so very early, but the trees do not do as well as we could wish or 
as well as the varieties before mentioned. 
The Malinda trees are bearing large crops every alternate year, the 
tree not being so hardy or so strong a grower as we should wish, like the 
Okabena. 
This is the home of the Okabena apple, the original tree standing on 
the banks of Lake Okabena, at Worthington. This apple is quite a favorite 
with some, but has not been generally planted. 
In hybrids and crabs we have the Minnesota, Whitney No. 20, Martha, 
Virginia, Brier’s Sweet, Sweet Russett, Early Strawberry and some others 
that are being grown with profit and pleasure and are generally giving sat- 
isfaction, when properly cared for. 
We have in our county now bearing over forty varieties of apples, crabs 
and hybrids, among them being the Perry Russett, Haas, Northwestern 
