132 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the bauds fasten it tog-ether. This will protect your trees not only 

 from mice and rabbits, but from sun-scald and borers, and will do 

 no harm if left there. 



Having- a good many seedling wild crab trees about mj' orchard, 

 I commenced grafting them with standard apples. In 1871, I put in 

 some grafts from a Tetofskj' that had not fruited, and the graft bore 

 fruit two years before the parent tree and continued in bearing till 

 1893, when the g-raft and most of the tree died from blight. Other 

 varieties have been grafted on the wild crab. No other variety tried, 

 except the Duchess, has lived and borne fruit. Whoever has the 

 wild crab trees can, by grafting them with the Tetofsky, have a sup- 

 ply' of that fruit in a few j^ears. In setting- out an orchard I have 

 always made a plat of it with the name of each variety written at the 

 dot denoting the tree; if that tree died fi-om anj^ cavise, another was 

 put in its place and with the cause of the failure written on the plat. 

 'I'hi.s gives a history of the orchard with the success and failures. 

 In this way I have tried over 100 varieties that have not withstood 

 the climate, besides a great manj^ seedlings. The greatest cause of 

 so many failures appears to me to be the extreme dry falls and 

 winters, o^ten noting that after such seasons came the greatest num- 

 ber of failures. My reason for these failures is, that in those seasons 

 the roots cannot obtain enough moisture to supplj' the evaporation 

 g^oing on all of the time through the buds and branches; and the 

 reason some varieties can stand these drouths is, they do not retjuire 

 so much moisture. 



Among the seedlings that have fruited with me, one gave a nice 

 apple at nine 3'ears old, that kept sound and crisp till the next 

 season's apples were well developed, but the winter of '84 and '85 

 nearl}^ killed the tree. Some sprouts from it have grown to bearing 

 size, and last spring- it put out some blossoms but did not mature 

 anj' apples. 



Another seedling of the planting of 1870 has stood without a bud 

 or branch being killed bj- all the climate changes, giving promise 

 of a good standard apple when it bears. Another seedling com- 

 menced bearing at six j'ears old and has given a good crop six j'ears 

 in succession without a bud being alfected bj' the climate, and onl}^ 

 a few sig-ns of blight, although it stands within thirty feet of a 

 Transcendent tree in the last stages of life from blight. 



From the great number of seed planted, I have but twelve varieties 

 that have borne fruit that are hardj' so far and give promise of re- 

 maining so. 



Among ni}' other adventures in raising apples I have tried plant- 

 ing seed from the native crab, and, as soon as these seedlings bore, 

 planted their seed. In this waj% from the third generation I have 

 eight beautiful, hard}' trees that are not in the least like the parent 

 tree in trunk, branch, ^eaf, blossom or fruit. All of these except one 

 give early summer fruit, while the parent bears winter fruit. No 

 doubt the change is caused by hybridization; still, these changes 

 are novel and very interesting. Now I am planting the seeds from 

 these eight trees to see what fruit their progeny will bear. 



Having given an outline of my endeavors to raise fruit in Minne- 

 sota, the task to me seems incomplete unless some of the results 



