306 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



not worth iiaentioning' the same day. This apple was awarded the 

 first premium, and it is one of the finest grained apples I ever saw. 



Pres. Underwood: Is it sub-acid? 



Mr. Patten: Yes, it is sub-acid. 



Pres. Underwood: Do you consider that you fooled away your 

 time on those seedling- apples? (Laughter). 



Mr. Dartt: I did not say he fooled away his time on such apples. 



Pres. Underwood: "A hit bird always flutters." (Laughter). 



Mr. Dartt: Yes, and that is the reason why he flutters. (Laughter). 



Mr. Patten: I want to call your attention to these apples here, 

 just to show you the difference in the method of growing new 

 apples. Now then, I will plant the seeds of large apples, of fine 

 looking apples and hardy apples — and a very large number of these 

 apples I know just where the seed came from — and while the seeds 

 of different apples we are talking about came from scrub trees, 

 cider mills and the like, of about thirty-nine varieties I exhibited at 

 the state fair this fall (I think the gentlemen who saw them will 

 bear me out in my statement) at least fifteen of the thirtj'-nine 

 would compare with almost any quality of the older list of our 

 American apples. So you see we need not be fooling away our time 

 in growing inferior sized fruit. (Applause). 



Pres. Underwood: Do you think it would be time well spent for 

 all parties who have time to do so to select seeds from our hardiest 

 varieties of apples and grow from them with a view to developing 

 new varieties? 



Mr. Patten: I know of no other way of obtaining varieties that 

 are adapted to this country. 



Pres. Underwood: I want to call your attention for a moment to 

 this apple. This is a seedling apple grown by Gen. Le Due of 

 Hastings, It is just about in its prime now. It is a long keeper 

 and of a good flavor. It is a seedling. Here is a seedling of the 

 Duchess, a valuable fine growing apple, and it has one of the char- 

 acteristics Mr. Patten speaks of, of being a vigorous tree. I indorse 

 what he says in regard to having a vigorous tree. Some varieties 

 not so hardy as this will stand a more severe summer because of 

 their vigor. This is the seedling to which your attention was called 

 last winter. It is an accidental seedling, growing five miles from 

 our place, on the boundary line between two farms. I do not know 

 who it belongs to. The tree is vigorous, probably eighteen to 

 to twenty years old, and the grafts set last spring made a growth of 

 from three to four feet — it is a very vigorous tree. It is a long keep- 

 ing apple, of fair quality. The man living nearest it saj'^s there are 

 apples on it now. 



Mr. Harris: He calls it the Waif. 



Pres. Underwood: You do not think it has any special name? 



Mr. Harris: That is the name by which the committee on nomen- 

 clature call it. 



Mr. Pearce: I want to speak just half a minute on seedlings. Mr. 

 Cummins got some roots from me a few years ago and then grafted 

 all of them and planted them out. Those are just as good apples as 

 3'OU can find in Minnesota. You can sample them after you get 



