MONTEVIDEO TRIAL STATION. 55 
Among the shrubs on trial atthe station that promise well may 
be mentioned Pyrus tortingo, which appears to be perfectly hardy; 
Prunus tomentosa, which bloomed for the first time this year; the 
European Viburnum lantana, which promises well; the North China 
lilac, Syringa villosa, which seems to be perfectly at home; and the 
old fashioned matrimony vine, Lycium vulgare, which seems to be 
as hardy here as in the old fashioned eastern garden. 
OWATONNA TRIAL STATION. 
E. H. S. DARTT, SUPT. 
Mr. President and Members:—Perhaps I can do no better than to 
review briefly the work of the station up to the present time. The 
law establishing this station provides by section one that“An experi- 
mental station beand is hereby established on the State School Farm 
at Owatonna, in this state, for the purpose of producing new and 
valuable varieties of fruit trees, thoroughly testing promising vari- 
eties we now have and securing reliable reports in regard to fruit, 
forest and ornamental trees best adapted to our state.” 
It has been the effort of my life to carry out the provisions of this 
section. And since our greatest need is apples for all seasons of the 
year, of fair size and good quality, that will endure our climate and 
be productive, I have bent my energies largely in this direction, 
In starting out I found no well beaten path, and guide boards and 
pointers were few and far between. 
I must advance or, at least, make an effort, and so I blundered on, 
and I now feel that my last blunder is the best of all. I have blun- 
dered onto a way by which I can fully test the hardiness of a fruit 
tree without waiting for a hardwinter. This will enable me to make 
much more rapid progress and must be a great help to other ex. 
perimenters. Inthe beginning I planted my seeds and have since 
grafted of this class by selection about five hundred varieties; Ialso 
gathered in as many as possible of the large number of seedling 
varieties that were thriving and coming into notice all over the 
northwest. Some of these were being boomed by interested parties, 
and it seemed quite essential that they should have an impartial 
trial. -Russian varieties were not forgotten, and we now place them 
on a par with American seedlings; a very few will succeed,a great 
many will fail. It is the fashion for young trees, as well as young 
people, to revel in vigor, youth and beauty till they produce their 
first heavy crop, which so reduces their vitality that they are quite 
likely to sicken and die from the effects of a hot summer or a winter 
of moderate severity. On this account it seems like a useless waste 
of time to-describe and laud our new varieties till they have passed 
this critical period. 
As to men and fruit trees in Minnesota, we do not need new pro- 
‘ductions so badly as we need to have the fool-killer hurry up. I be- 
lieve Iam doing good work with my little saw as fool-killer among 
apple trees, but I would not take the other job lest in persistently 
following the line of duty I might be compelled to commit suicide. 
I have known for a long time that highly cultivated rich land was 
