Qiiestioi] I30X. 



(Please ask and answer questions briefly, and in replyin,;^. refer to the niiin))er.) 



1. Is there any one in this society who has cultivated the Pays Prolific currant and 

 found it profitaljle; or the Industry gooseberry, and does it mildew? 



M. 0. BuNNKi^i., Newport, Minn. 



2. Have any fruits ever been brought over from central Norway or the northern 

 pait of Norway or riwedenV 



O. J. Hagen, Ilendruiii, Minn. 



3. Dear Sir:— I take the liberty to send you by mail a small package containing what 

 is a curiosity to me, viz., a piece of wood with some kind of ogtrs enclosed in layers of 

 cartridges of leaves. Please examine them and let me know what Miey are. 



Respectfully, Nye Haskins, Burtrum, Minn. 



ANSWER TO NO. 3. 



The specimen is au interesting one, though by no means an un- 

 common one. You have no doubt seen a gray bee, smaller than a 

 honey bee, in the act of cutting roundish pieces from the leaves of 

 roses and other plants. In some season these bees are so common 

 as to greatly disfigure some of our choicest varieties of roses, as 

 they seem to prefer thick and leathery leaves for their purpose. To 

 build their houses all kinds of holes of a suitable size are utilized. 

 I have found them in the large hollow galls upon oak-leaves, in the 

 burrows of larger borers of solid wood, in hollow stems, in cracks 

 of walls, in the ground, even in the spool of cotton thread. The 

 pieces of leaves are used to carefully line the burrows, and by over- 

 lapping and bending they make a number of cells in the least possi- 

 ble space. Each cell is filled with i^ollen and when finished con- 

 tains a single egg, which hatches into a worm-like larva that grad- 

 ually consumes the stored-up food, transforms to a pupa and event- 

 ually into an adult bee. 



Prof, otto Lugger, St. Anthony Park, Minn. 



Minnesota Sugar and Syrup:— Setii H. Kenney, Esq., Morris- 

 town, Minn., My Dear Sir:— You were awarded a jirize on both your 

 sugar and syrup, and will receive a medal worth about $20.00. Your 

 sugar and syrup were first examined by some foreign judges, and 

 thej' being called home and not having made any report, 1 called 

 for a re-hearing by the whole board of awards, and they luiani- 

 mously concluded that your sugar and syrup was equal to the best, 

 if not the best, on the ground. 



In conclusion, I would say that your sugar and sj'rup was one of 

 the most attractive of our exhibits, and created great surprise 

 especially to those people of the south and foreign countries. 



Yours respectfully, 



Gardner Stevens. 



