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f 
° F A SOUTH DAKOTA ORCHARD. 457 
Of the other Russians fruiting in this orchard, it is of no use to 
say much till I can identify their names with certainty. One of 
them isa long keeping winter apple, large, showy, good for cooking 
and a heavy bearer. Several others range through fall and winter, 
are apparently valuable, all sizes and colors, none of poor quality. 
One of these seems to be Repka Melenka. The trees of this variety 
happened to be planted ona bleak point of the orchard with full 
exposure to the north and stand as upright as a fence post—but, 
as I said in a former letter, 1 have never touched them with my 
pruning knife, but left them to locate and form their limbs to suit 
themselves. They make theirobeisance to all points of the compass 
in courtesy to sun or storm, and when the interview is over come up 
erect, as atree oughtto be. One of them, standing only seven feet 
high (soil dry and growth slow) had 255 perfect apples on it in 1896 
and showed no weakness the following year. 
The Russian pears sent me by Prof. Budd have done as well as 
the apples. There are several varieties, of which I can identify only 
the Bessemianka. They have beenin bearing three years, The 
older members of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society will 
remember that I took stock in Prof. Budd as soon as his Russian 
fruit work became known to us—also A. G. Tuttle, of Baraboo, in 
the same line—and did everything possible to give them encourage- 
ment in the transaction and annual reports of the society; and all 
these years of observation and experience since 1882-3 have 
strengthened my belief that the Russian-American foundation is 
the right one for our orchards. 
FREE DISTRIBUTION OF SEEDS BY THE DEPARTMENT 
OF AGRICULTURE. 
J. S. HARRIS, LA CRESCENT. 
I consider the free distribution of seeds by the Department of 
. Agriculture, as at present practiced, a great waste of time and 
money. First, the bulk of the distribution is of varieties that the 
gardeners and better class of farmers do not care for, and they 
seldom give them a fair test; second, the common varieties, of 
which much of the distribution consists, are often old and impure 
seeds, or varieties not best adapted for planting in the localities 
where they are sent: third, more than half of them are sent to 
parties who do not care for them, and they are never planted. The 
greatest benefit I can see in it is that it affords the members of 
congress an easy way to make those who have voted for them 
believe that they are held in remembrance and their support 
appreciated. Few of the seeds reach those who are of an opposite 
party from the sender. 
I have had more or less experience with these seeds for more than 
thirty years. I once received a variety of winter wheat that was of 
superior quality. Rye, oats and barley are seldom planted the 
second time, and the corn usually must be acclimated by planting 
it very early and nursing it carefully for several years before it 
becomes early enough to be reliable and ripen before the autumn 
frosts. I look upon it as at present conducted as an insult to 
