62 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



duce quite larg-e fruit. I have never seen any fruit of the larg-e- 

 fruited variety, but no doubt b}^ cultivating- it or by raising seed- 

 lings of it from selected seeds, a valuable fruit could be had. Then 

 there is the choke cherry. This is very common and to be found all 

 through the groves. The trees bear an amount of fruit every year, 

 but were a failure this j'^ear, so that hardly one-half dozen of the 

 fruit could be found on any one tree, while selected ones and seed- 

 lings from some under cultivation bore a full crop. These seem to 

 bloom somewhat later than the tame cherry and the trees are thrift}^, 

 healthy and productive and free from the disease known as black 

 knot. I think these to be what are described by some writers as 

 Prunus Z)e/22issa, the Western choke cherry. The fruits of these are 

 much larger and ripen their fruit earlier than the common ones, and 

 the fruit is nearly free from the astringency which are so peculiar to 

 that fruit. They are the best of that class of fruit I have ever seen. 

 The trees of these bore a full crop the past season, while scarcely 

 any fruit could be seen in the woods on the common sorts. One 

 variety of these shows some distinction from others in the habit of 

 growth, color of the bark, also some in bud but more so in the leaves. 

 The fruit of some also differs in shape from others and is of a dark 

 red color when ripe. I think that the fruit of these are too good for 

 the name choke cherry, by which these are known, as these do not 

 choke like the common sorts. As the word or name Morello has 

 been given to some of our other tame cherries, we proposed the 

 name "Corello" cherries for this class of fruit, and this in the honor 

 of our daughter Corinna, who was present when the fruit was found. 

 The fruit is well liked by some of our best judges of fruit, such as 

 Harris, Heideman and others who have seen it; they all testify to its 

 being the best of its class they ever saw or tasted, and consider it 

 well worthy of extended trial. 



NATIVE PLUMS. 



O. M. LORD, MINNESOTA CITY. 



A recent catalogue gives to this fruit, native plums, the first and 

 most important place. "Because of its rapidly increasing import- 

 ance as a profitable market fruit, and for the widespread interest in 

 the production of improved varieties of our hardy and prolific native 

 species, the compiler believes the result will well repay for special 

 study and work in this direction; having full confidence that the 

 best, carefully selected native plums will yield larger profits in 

 the orchard than any other stone fruit now cultivated." 



These statements coming from a large nursery of the Southern 

 states, where all the finer varieties of the stone fruits are supposed 

 to flourish, are entitled to our earnest consideration, especially, when 

 applied to Minnesota, where it is impossible to grow the European 

 varieties successfully for market. A glance at the sixty varieties 

 advertised in the catalogue as belonging to the American group 

 shows that thirty-five of them (no doubt among the best) are indi- 

 genous to the valley of the Mississippi, in Minnesota, Wisconsin and 

 Iowa. 



