202 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Enormous, Pag^e's Winter Sweet, P. J. Kniss, Hibernal, Loyna, Lord's^ 

 Longfield, Auisim, Red Wine, Juicy White, Glass Green, three Hus- 

 sions with names lost and about a dozen seedlings not yet fruited 

 and five varieties of Douglass seedlings. Besides these we have 

 in crabs Martha, Stoddart, Sweet Russet, Choke Cherry, Rutland 

 Beaut}^ Virginia, Tonka, Dartt's Hyb., Estaline and a sweet variety 

 without name— altogether more than oae hundred varieties of 

 apples and crabs. Up to the present time we have not done much 

 in the line of top-working.but having a stock of Virginia and Trenton 

 crabs on hand shall begin experiments in that line. We have this 

 fall chopped off a piece of ground on the north side of a high 1)luff 

 where we expect to plant 200 trees next spring. The holes are dug 

 but the ground will not be plowed but will be kept mellow about 

 the trees bj' digging and heavy mulching. 



EXCELSIOR EXPERIMENT STATION. 



H. M. LYMAN. SUPT. 



This has been an unproductive year for apples at this station. 

 The season started out well with an abundant bloom, and the tree& 

 never looked naore promising for a large crop of fruit, but when the 

 fruit had attained about the size of a small crab it nearly all fell to 

 the ground. Such was the fate of Duchess, Martha crab. Transcend- 

 ent and several other varieties, while most of mj^ seedling treen that 

 had borne fruit before carried their fruit well. I can hardly attrib- 

 ute the loss of fruit to the frost, for those on higher ground suffered 

 equally with, if not worse than, those on low ground. I know the frost 

 thinned out many of the blossoins on both high and low ground, 

 but there appeared enough left for a full crop. Was it a kind of 

 blight which caused all those Duchess to cast their fruit? There 

 has been more blight here the past season than for several j'ears. 

 Among those that suffered most were: Pride of Minneapolis, Hiber- 

 nal, Longfield and Yellow Transparent. All of Dartt's Hybrid and 

 Lake Winter are dead. The Wealthy passed through the season with 

 little blight. The Martha crab and Peerless seem very free from 

 blight. 



I have planted out several thousand root grafts the past season. 

 Many of them are from seedlings of much promise, the original 

 trees having passed through one or more of the severe winters. 



Our worst enemy now to apple growing appears to center in the 

 blight more than in cold winters. Now is about the periodic 

 time to expect another series of blighting years, I think. 



The dominion government recently enacted a law prohibiting the 

 spraying of fruit trees while in blossom under penalty of heavy 

 fine. The moving spirits in securing this legislation were the bee- 

 keepers, who find that spraying trees in bloom seriously interferes 

 with the cjuantity and cjuality of honey gathered by the bees. The 

 same complaint has come from many sections of the United States. 

 As a matter of fact, the interests of beekeepers and of fruit growers 

 in this matter are identical. Bees aid in fertilizing the flowers and 

 therefore in securing a good set of fruit, while no good is derived 

 by spraying until the blossom is nearly or quite all gone. 



