304 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



keeper, or something that would keep longer than the Duchess, and I 

 went to work with this idea as my basis: that is, if I saved my seeds 

 from those apples which were perfect and hung on the trees the 

 longest, I would perhaps be gaining my point of getting a longer 

 keeping apple than the original. I fruited some fifty varieties, and 

 in gathering apples that year I left the apples on the trees which 

 appeared to be green until other apples were all gathered, and then 

 I went around and gathered those apples and saved the seeds and 

 planted them. Now as to the result: A number of them bore sev- 

 eral years ago, and those which bore first appeared to have the 

 greatest resemblance to the crab family. Among those seedlings 

 some of them were upright growers, with large leaves, clean bark; 

 others were short and spreading with small leaves; some of them 

 blighted and died, I transplanted seventy-five of them and selected 

 those which I thought were best. Among those which bore fruit 

 early was one which we call the No. 12; my son called it the "Bea- 

 con." It is a little earlier than the Duchess and resembles the crab 

 very much in habit of growth. It is about the size of the Minnesota 

 crab and red. and when fully ripe it is covered with bloom. It is an 

 excellent eating apple and surpasses the Whitney No. 6 in size and 

 flavor and hangs well on the tree. 



Another, which I exhibited at the state fair two years ago, is my 

 No. 1, called bj'^ that number because it came just at the end of the 

 row. That is the apple that Mr. Patten is looking for; something 

 that comes in just after the Duchess is past; it is better than the 

 Wealthy in flavor, and an apple that hangs well to the tree. It is a 

 good looking apple, symmetrical, fine quality, and the tree a fair 

 grower. 



Another apple, which I call the No. 18, is a very large yellow 

 apple; that is a pretty good keeper. It has an excellent flavor, like 

 the Rhode Island Greening. 



Another apple, the No. 11, is a small apple, but a very prolific 

 bearer, from two to four weeks later than the Duchess, and of excel- 

 lent quality, good enough for anybody to plant. 



Another which we call No. 9, is a large apple, very symmetrical 

 and even in size, shape and color, a handsomer apple than the Ben 

 Davis, and not one of them drops from the tree. In that we have a 

 quality that Mr, Patten is looking for, something that does not drop 

 from the tree. Those apples were left on the tree until the 25th of 

 September, a month after our Duchess were gone, and not one of 

 them dropped from the tree. I have great hopes for that apple, 

 but how long it will keep I do not know. I think it will be a good 

 keeper. 



Another is No. 7, very much the color of the Duchess and about 

 a month later. 



I have some other seedlings. Among the lot are Nos. 22 and 23, 

 both red, very handsome and very good flavored apples, good 

 keepers. They have kept until February; they are a little under- 

 sized, larger than the Minnesota crab, not quite large enough; still 

 they are very profitable, and you could not get better for the size. 



I have another seedling whose origin I do not know. It came 

 from a lot of cider pomace. It has the flavor of the Spitzenberg. 



