A MILD WABNING. 34I 



largest producers, probably more than three-fourths of the trees 

 being Baldwins. A recent issue of the Boston Herald says : 



''There is at present a plethora of fruits. The limbs of the apple 

 trees hang heavy with a superabundance, and the ground beneath is 

 covered with deca>-ing droppings. In some localities fine apples may 

 be had for the picking, and an offer of half a dollar a barrel for the 

 fruit on the tree is eagerly accepted in the rural districts. Thousands 

 of bushels are being fed to the cattle and pigs, the cider mills are 

 glutted, and it seems a pity to see such a large quantity going to 

 waste." 



In view of these conditions among the old orchards of the older 

 states, it may be well for us in Minnesota, before planting largely, to 

 carsfully make an economic study of the fruit problem. 



This age will be known in history- as an eminently practical one, 

 and the first question naturally asked in any enterprise is : Will it 

 pay? 



A St. Louis correspondent states that on a recent Saturday 10,000 

 barrels were landed in that market, 9.500 of which were Ben Da\-is, 

 which sold at about half of what good apples are bringing. The 

 Ben Da\'is has been grown here to a limited extent, but in most 

 markets has been pronounced undesirable as to quaHt\'. We cannot 

 profitably grow the Baldwin, the Spitzenberg, the Albemarle Pippin 

 and other popular varieties : and if we could grow them, transport- 

 ing and market facilities are such that we cannot compete with more 

 favored regions. And here it may be well to call the attention of 

 planters to the selection of varieties, etc. A prominent fruit grower 

 of northern Iowa says that within a recent period in his neighborhood 

 S3.000 has been paid for budded apple trees, domestica plimis, 

 and peach trees, which is money thrown away,- to say nothing of 

 labor, care, etc. The fruit list recommended by our society is small 

 in number of varieties compared with the exhibits at the fairs, but 

 it is beUeved that no damage to the real fruit interests of the state 

 would be done if the fruit list should be materially shortened. 



Mr. Somerv-ille exhibited at one of our fairs 100 varieties of 

 Russian apples. He was asked the question, how many of the va- 

 rieties he considered first-class in all respects or really worthy of 

 general cultivation, and his answer was, "only seven." Of the num- 

 berless varieties grown by the late Peter Gideon, only one as yet 

 stands out prominently. The station at Owatonna contains more 

 varieties than any other place in the state, but Mr. Dartt, in his late 

 report, says he has made no remarkable discoveries in the apple line. 

 The Owatonna Station has been considered by this society as one of 

 the most trying for fruit growing in the state, and Mr. Dartt 



