SEEDLINGS. 457 



the propagation of seedling apples, or fruit of any variety, is one 

 of the most fascinating occupations or pastimes a person can have, 

 and there are large trees on the old homestead in another state that 

 are monuments to the efforts of my childhood along that line ; but a 

 stranger's hand has not dealt with them as kindly as it should, and 

 the best results have not been attained. A noted writer, in speaking 

 of his old home that had passed to strangers said : 



"Oh, ye who daily pass the sill, 

 Step lightly, for I love it still." 



and I often think of these lines when reminded of the seedling 

 apple trees planted by the writer when life was young and hope more 

 buoyant than in after years. 



In the vicinity of Albert Lea several good specimens of seedlings 

 have been produced, and those who have them have accomplished 

 much, but if every horticulturist in the state planted some apple seed 

 each year and raised a few trees the possibilities of some one securing 

 the prize of one thousand dollars offered by the state society would 

 be largely increased, and many hardy varieties would be secured — 

 and that is what is wanted the most of all by fruit-raisers of Minne- 

 sota and the northwest, where climatic influences have so much to 

 do with the results of their labor. There are little nooks on every 

 farm and in every nursery, or even on city or village lots, where a 

 dozen, or even half that number of trees can be permitted to have 

 space to grow and develop, and when they have been tested as to 

 the quality of their fruit if found advisable they can be removed and 

 others put in their place and the experiments continued uninter- 

 ruptedly, for it is written that a "tree that beareth not good fruit 

 shall be cut down." 



In choosing seed to plant, the best fruit should be selected, as it 

 seems to be admitted that better results can be expected in that way 

 than in any other, since heredity is not confined to the animal world 

 by any manner of means, and the tendency to "breed back" is so 

 great that it must have attention from the careful experimenter. But 

 a few years are necessary to make the test, and if the trees are given 

 attention they will thrive in a most interesting manner. Personal at- 

 tention is not all lost on vegetables and trees, as they seem to yield to 

 the influence of care as readily as do many of the domestic and wild 

 animals. If one plants an apple seed and leaves it to become choked 

 in grass and weeds without any attention, he will get little joy out 

 of it, and he will never become a great artist, for there is no excel- 

 lence without great labor. 



The first year after the seeds are planted the prospective tree is 

 but a plant, but in most cases there is a vigor that promises well for 

 the future, and the artist watches his prospect with jealous care — 

 but he is impotent to add a leaf or increase the color in the foliage 

 except as he complies with the laws of nature. The next year the 

 stem becomes noticeable, and the style of tree one is to have is to 

 some extent disclosed, and the artist permits his hopes to rise while 

 he gives the stripling- increased care. The third year the plant has 

 become a shrub, and the woody nature is more plainly disclosed to the 



