250 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



have gone, with the exception of Haas and Tetofsky, but the main 

 orchard has proved profitable and is now in a thrift}- condition 

 with the exception of the Wealthy. This variety has borne enough 

 to pay its cost many times, but fully one-half of them are now dead, 

 and the rest have the appearance of not being long-lived trees. The 

 Orange have blighted some, but none of the others have been 

 seriously troubled with blight. We have mulched the Duchess and 

 Wealth}^ about every second year, in winter, the others not so often, 

 and have pruned very little. 



The orchard is in grass and pastured with hogs. The trees stand 

 too close to drive between the rows conveniently. We hope to plant 

 another orchard in the spring and shall plant about fourteen feet 

 apart, in rows running north and south, and have the rows about 

 thirty feet apart east and west. 



Our Peerless apple trees, one and two years old, made the best 

 growth of anj^thing in the nursery. The Peerless on low, rich 

 ground makes rather late growth, especially while the trees are 

 young, but on higher locations and as they get older they ripen 

 earlier. We have some Peerless top-worked on Whitney, Virginia, 

 Dartt'e Hybrid and Wealthy, making generally a good union with 

 these varieties. Those grafted into the Wealthy bore some fine 

 apples this year for the first time, in fact, so good that boys who had 

 the run of the place got all the finest specimens before they knew 

 it was a "patent" apple. 



DISCUSSION. 



Pres. Underwood: This is the only report we have from the 

 committee on apples. Now, we have plenty of others here who 

 are competent to report in regard to apples this last season, 

 and we would like to hear from Mr. Somerville. 



Mr. Somerville: Well, with us our apple crop was a fair 

 crop. In my own orchard, I had a very good crop of apples. 

 We had a hailstorm there on the -Ith of August that knocked a 

 great many off, and the balance were so badly battered that 

 they did not keep well this winter, so the greatest objection I 

 have is as to the quantity; the quality w^as all right if it had not 

 been for the hailstorm. In looking over our exhibit today in 

 the other room. I am quite surprised to see the advancement 

 that has been made m fruit raising in Minnesota. I exhibited 

 the first fruit that was ever exhibited in the state at the first 

 state fair held in Rochester. I had the Duchess, and I exhibi- 

 ted that at the first fair. At the next one I had the Duchess 

 and tl>e Transcendent exhibited, and I took all the premiums 

 that were offered, because there was no one to compete with 

 me. (Laughter). The third year Mr. A. W. Sias had a few 

 Duchess and a few Transcendent crabs, and he was a competitor. 

 Those Duchess were set out in 1860 from which the apples 



