SEEDLING FRUITS FOR 1898. 117 



SEEDLING FRUITS FOR 1898. 



J. S. HARRIS, LA CRESCENT. 



The year 1898 has given us a bountiful crop of Minnesota seedling 

 apples. Not only have those noted by your committee in previous 

 years fruited liberally and fully maintained the estimate of value 

 placed upon them, but hundreds of others have fruited for the first 

 time or been first brought into notice during the year. It is not 

 expected that after given a thorough trial, more than one in a hun- 

 dred of them will possess such merits of hardiness of tree and size, 

 quality and appearance, as will give them a permanent place in our 

 pomology, and it is hardly expected that the ideal apple we so much 

 desire and fondly hope for, a perfectly hardy tree, a profuse annual 

 bearer, bearing a fruit of perfect form and bright delicate color, 

 juicy as if filled with new wine, of rich sub-acid flavor, possessing 

 the good points of the Jonathan, Porter, Swaar,Seek-no-further, None- 

 such and Pearmain, a long keeper and weighing from six to ten 

 ounces, has yet been originated, but it is the opinion of your com- 

 mittee that we are making good progress in that direction, and that 

 it will surely come. 



I have not this year made a general survey of the state for the 

 purpose of examining trees of varieties heretofore noted or in search 

 of new varieties, partly for the reason the last few winters had been 

 unusual!}' mild, rendering it difficult to estimate the hardiness of 

 trees that have been grown and are beginning to fruit since the 

 Winter of 1884; '85. I had intended to visit the orchards of D. F. Akin 

 and others at Farmington, and the trees of Mr. Siebenaler and Gen. 

 Le Due, at Hastings, before this meeting, but ha^^e been unable to 

 do so. I have looked over the tree station at Owatonna and the 

 orchard of Thomas Lightly at Oakland. The Lightly orchard con- 

 tains about sixty varieties. They were very generally bearing a 

 heavy crop, and a considerable number of the varieties were of fine 

 appearance and fair quality, and showed characteristics that pointed 

 to Wealthy parentage. 



The seedling orchards in the town of Sheldon, Houston county, 

 were visited. A number of the trees there are from sixteen to thirty 

 years old. They were bearing very heavy crops, and the trees were 

 looking well. The fruit of several varieties was of very fine quality. 

 If they should survive the next test winter, we may expect some 

 treasures from them. The Okabena, Peerless, Catherine, Oxford's 

 Orange, of Minne-sota, and Morgan's Seedling, Avista, Northwestern 

 Greening and Wolf River, of Wisconsin, and others of the older 

 seedlings are doing well at the present time. 



A considerable number of samples have been sent me for exam- 

 ination and an opinion of their merit. So far this season I have 

 examined, made outlines and recorded descriptions of about forty 

 varieties, a few of which I will present at this time. 



The "Milwaukee" is a Wisconsin seedling of the Duchess, by Geo. 

 Jeffries, of Milwaukee, that is reported as doing well, and I think it 

 ia worthy of a trial in this state. Description: size, 7 to 8; weight, 

 8 to 93^ ounces; form, round oblate, slightly angular; color, greenish 



