154 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



and they will soon be too thick so I cannot get into that orchard 

 to do anything. 



Mr. Dartt: The average life of the Duchess in this state is 

 not so long as represented. I planted trees 10 x 20 feet and 

 took good care of that orchard, and the trees died out fast 

 enough so a big part of that orchard was never crowded. I 

 think close planting is better than very wide planting. 



TOP-WORKING VS. SEEDLINGS. 



READ AT THE RECENT MEETING OF THE SOUTH MINNESOTA HORTI- 

 CULTURAL SOCIETY, AT ALBERT LEA, feY EDSON GAYLORD, OF 

 NORA SPRINGS, IOWA. 



My object iu taking- up the investig-ation of this subject is to help 

 advance the cause of horticulture, and while this investigation may 

 reveal nothing new to our fraternity, it may add some small gleam 

 of light to aid those who are anxious to know the truth but have not 

 time to investigate. 



First, I have little confidence in any seedling or Russian variety 

 that has come to us since 1885, and I have no more confidence in 

 any single individual tree that may have passed '85 comparatively 

 uninjured. We have single trees now scattered all over our north- 

 west that came out all right, even among our half-hardy kinds. 

 Further than this, we have a number of whole orchards that passed 

 '85 with scarce any injury, one at Clear Lake, one at Cedar Falls. 

 Then, what good reason have we to trust any seedling because it 

 escaped serious injury in '85? In these times when so much is said 

 urging everybody to plant seed all the time and everywhere, I have 

 thought it not out of place to give a few notes of warning to those 

 who cannot take the time necessary to investigate. The conditions 

 necessary to success along this line of work are more difficult than 

 may at first imagine. Charles Downing, our greatest and most 

 reliable American author said, " Our fruits when reared from seed 

 always show a tendency to return to a wilder form, and it is only by 

 chance that a new seedling is equal to or surpasses its parent. 

 Raising new varieties is always slow and most uncertain. The new 

 beginner, after much planting of choice seed finds the results of 

 his efforts too much of a lottery, with far too many blanks," to which 

 he further adds, " He therefore wisely resorts to the more certain 

 mode of grafting from the well known and esteemed sorts." 



It appears all fruits and flowers have a tendency to show improve- " 

 ment while under high culture, but under neglect they have a 

 stronger tendency to return to a natural or wild state. Dr. Lindley 

 says, "If our annual garden plants were left abandoned a few years, 

 they would all soon disappear and be replaced by a few original 

 wild forms." Downing adds, " When we desire to raise new varieties 

 of fruit, the common practice is to select seed from the finest table 

 fruits. In doing this the chances are generally a hundred to one 



