34 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



No. I is nearest the house; No. 2 next to that, with a strip of 

 timber intervening; No. 3 a little further to the west of No. 2, with 

 forest trees interspersed, and No. 4 is north of this orchard, with 

 only a road or driveway between. 



No. I is largely planted with Mr. Gideon's named seedlings 

 and varieties of his own raising. Many of the seedlings have been 

 grafted wuth fall and winter varieties, obtained, no doubt, from many 

 localities outside of the state. Some have been grafted long enough 

 to come into bearing the present season, and among these are sev- 

 eral varieties of value; one in particular, which appears to be root- 

 grafted. There are four trees of this variety. The fruit is large, and 

 when fully ripe quite attractive, of good quality, and the trees are 

 very productive. The fruit was placed upon exhibition at our state 

 fair, and the attention of every native fruit grower attending was 

 called to this apple, desiring a name. After the fair specimens were 

 sent to three expert growers of fruit in Iowa, and Stark Bros., Lou- 

 isiana, Mo., and . a specimen to Prof. Taylor of the Pomological 

 Division at Washington, D. C. But up to the present time we 

 have failed to learn the name or origin of this apple. It has the 

 smallest seed of any large apple I have ever examined. There were 

 two other large trees which bore striped apples, that were very at- 

 tractive to the eye and of good quality. These Prof. Hansen has 

 pronounced Mountain Beet. There were many other varieties of 

 grafted apples in this orchard, scattered promiscuously among 

 Wealthy, Peter, Gideon, Lou, October and other varieties of his own 

 raising, and the inference is that they were so arranged for the pur- 

 pose of pollination of the flowers, and from the fruit seed was to be 

 selected for planting. 



Orchard No. 2 is planted mostly with seedlings of his own 

 growing, with here and there a tree with part of the top grafted 

 with some other variety. In this orchard are crab trees growing 

 that .bear fruit no larger than a marrowfat pea and apples of good 

 size, with a great variation in texture, color and flavor. One re- 

 markable thing about the Gideon seedlings, wherever grown, is that 

 they have the faculty of being very highly colored. We did not dis- 

 cover any apple in this orchard that was the equal of the Wealthy 

 in size or quality. 



Orchard No. 3 has over 2,000 trees growing and fruiting and 

 contains a very heterogeneous mass of fruit trees, representing a 

 wide range as to season, size, color and quality, very many of them 

 very attractive with their coloring of red and gold, but lacking flavor 

 and the other qualifications that would make them desirable kinds 

 for further propagation. In the western end of this orchard are |^ 



