192 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



EUREKA EXPERIMENT STATION (GRAPES K 



C. W. S^MPSOX, SUPT. 



My grape vines came through the winter in fairly good condition, 

 especially those vines that were protected with a covering of straw 

 over the roots. As we had some very cold weather and not much 

 snow, a good many surface roots were killed. The dry weather of the 

 past susnmer seemed to affect some vines, as the ground was per- 

 fectly dry to a depth of six or eight feet. 



Durant Amber bloomed June 5th, and the grapes were ripe about 

 August 28th. The}^ are a rich, highlj^ flavored grape and a vigorous 

 grower. A Telegraph vine set eighty bunches of grapes, and every 

 bunch dropped off. I consider it almost worthless. The Woodruff 

 Red, fruited a few grapes; fruit about the size of the Brighton; 

 color red; of excellent flavor. The White Diamond is a hardy vine, 

 and a vigorous grower; foliage large and healthj^; very prolific in 

 bearing; cluster large and handsome, often shouldered; color green- 

 ish white; berries large; skin thin but tough. Moyer. — An early 

 red grape; first ripe grapes September 1st; the quality is prime and 

 yield very good; cluster not very large, but increase as vines grow 

 older. It is sweet as soon as colored; skin tough but thin; pulp 

 tender, juicy, of delicious flavor and entirely free from foxiness. 

 Niagara. — This vine made a good growth; bunch medium to large, 

 compact, occasionally shouldered; berry large, uniform; skin thin 

 but tough; pale green at first, changing to pale yellow when fully 

 ripe; foilage thick and healthy. Eaton. — New black grape. This is 

 the largest berried grape we have grown; bunches verj' large; it 

 ripens with the Worden; quality not the best, but the large berries 

 are tull of juice and have tender pulp,which releases the seeds readily. 

 Worden. — An excellent black grape, both for home use and market; 

 it is an enormous cropper; vines very vigorous; Worden is ripe 

 and gone before Concord comes in. It is an early black grape, verj-^ 

 large in cluster and berry; of good quality, selling well everj-where. 

 In brief, Worden is an improved Concord, being larger in both 

 bunch and berrj^ handsotner, nearly two vt^eeks earlier and of 

 better qualit)^ 



VIOLA EXPERIMENT STATION. 



\VM. .SOMEKVILLE, .SUPT. 



I was notified by our honorable secretary that at their last summer's 

 meeting I was appointed as an agent for an experiment station 

 While I am thankful for the honor conferred upon me, I beg to be 

 excused from experimenting with any thing further than I have 

 been doing. 



I have been trying in an individual way to see if what we are seek- 

 ing for can be found among the new Russians. I received scions 

 from Washington and bought little trees from Professor Budd, 

 Mr. Tuttle, and Mr. Sias, until I had over 200 varieties of Russians 

 in my nursery. Last spring, the trees being three and four years 

 old, I thought I would set out a commercial orchard, and selected 

 four acres east of my old orchard, the ground sloping slightly 



