APPLE SEEDLINGS. 337 



closed: basin broad, shallow, wavy; flesh white, slightly stained 

 with red,fine grained, firm, juicy; flavor sub-acid, very good; season, 

 December to February. It originated at Baraboo, Wis., and has 

 been awarded at a Wisconsin state fair the first premium as the best 

 winter seedling apple on exhibition. I have not examined the tree, 

 but Mr. Tuttle speaks of it as being hardy and a most valuable va- 

 riety. 



I have during the season received dozens of other varieties 

 than those reported above, and those who have sent or furnished 

 them have my thanks for the interest they manifest in the seedling 

 apple question and the aid they are giving me. All varieties that 

 show promise of value are carefully examined, noted and briefly de- 

 scribed, and notices of them will appear in our reports from time to 

 time. 



EVERGREENS. 



A. K. BUSH, DOVER. 



I must admit I am a crank on evergreens. Their usefulness as 

 windbreaks, their beauty as ornamental trees, their determined and 

 rapid growth, recommend them to all as the tree for general plant- 

 ing on our Minnesota prairies. It is said "Men who plant trees set 

 monuments to their memory." Why not make them evergreens? 



I have nothing to report that would in any way discourage the 

 planting of our evergreens, but on the contrary my experience and 

 observation unite in proving that with very few exceptions, they 

 will stand drought, extremes of temperature, neglect, abuse and 

 thrive on poor soils better than any other trees we plant. 



Who does not admire the beauty, utility and stately appearance 

 of a well kept evergreen hedge — especially when it stands in con- 

 trast with an unsightly row of willows, which rob the soil of plant 

 food for rods on either side, strewing the ground with dead branches 

 and making a home and harbor for troublesome weeds and insects! 

 The evergreen with its dense foliage makes a perfect windbreak in 

 winter, when most needed, also destroys all growth of weeds under 

 its branches, but allow grass and trees to thrive within a few 

 feet of them. The planting of evergreens is an accepted evidence 

 of refinement and intelligence. "Hang out the sign" by liberal 

 planting of them. 



The native white pine is the beat all-purpose evergreen we can use 

 for general planting on our prairies. We find it growing on almost 

 barren ledges, where it has stood and battled with the elements, 

 possibly for centuries; still under the most discouraging surround- 

 ings it grows. If placed on the low lands in competition with other 

 native trees, it soon crowds through and above them, demanding its 

 position as "king of the forest." Men might learn many valuable 

 lessons from this tree, with its determination to succeed regardless 

 of surroundings, also from its "live and let live" principle. 



I have growing on one of my farms a double row of white pines, 

 about ten rods long, set four feet each way; I intended to move one- 

 half of them, but did not, and now they are twenty to twenty-five 

 feet high. Four feet on the north of them stands a row of Wealthy 



