368 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURA.L SOCIETY. 



respect to humidity of the air, Nebraska and Minnesota have a lower 

 averag-e per centage than the other states mentioned. 



We find that moisture is necessary for the development of fruit. 

 In a dry climate the fruit is small, but fair in appearance and qual- 

 ity. Moisture, sunshine and a high state of cultivation are neces- 

 sary to produce fruit that will command the highest prices and 

 carry away the first premiums at our great fairs. 



During our late Columbian Exposition I was kept busy the last 

 thirteen weeks at the great fair in Horticultural Hall, to do the best 

 I could to show the horticultural products of my state. Duties 

 called the superintendents connected with their work from one end 

 of the great hall to the other almost daily and sometimes many 

 times a day, and I found it a pleasure to take notes and study fruits 

 along my line of duty. We had a chance to studj^ fruits in latitude 

 40 and i5, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Maine to Oregon, 

 through the entire fruit belt of our country. In Maine, New Hamp- 

 shire, New York, Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, 

 where the growing season is comparatively short, with a low teinp- 

 erature but protected by a humid atmosphere, we found excellent 

 fruit, and the superintendents all spoke well of the countries they 

 represented. Now we reach Illinois and Nebraska. Of course, mod- 

 est}^ prevents us from saying very much about our own state, but 

 we like our hoine and ship millions of bushels of fine apples east, 

 west, north and south. Southern Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, 

 Utah, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and California, all made 

 fine displays of fruit. Where lands had been irrigated, the fruits 

 were very large and fine in appearance, but were poor in quality and 

 coloi compared with the fruits in the Mississippi and Missouri val- 

 leys, where the rainfall is sufficient to mature good crops of grass 

 and our Indian corn. Moisture is necessarj'^ for the development of 

 fine, showy fruit, but too much moisture will tend to produce large, 

 coarse fruit of poor color and quality. 



Fruits may be modified by selection and acclimation. We may 

 select choice varieties and, like our friend Gideon, plant seeds that 

 /2ja/^ produce varieties that will prove satisfactory in tree and fruit. 

 I would not discourage planting seeds, for many thousand varieties 

 of fruit have been brought to notice in that way. But we know from 

 sad experience that the pathway to success along this line is strewn 

 with many thorns. 



Again, fruits can be modified bj^ crossing and h3^bridizing. This 

 we think is practical and comparatively certain. Perhaps it would 

 be interesting to describe the process. 



To prepare the pollen.— Just before the flower opens, extract the 

 anthers and place them in a sealed envelope and allow the pollen to 

 ripen in a warm room from twenty-four to thirty-six hours. It may 

 be kept several days or even weeks and sent thousands of miles. 



For the sake of argument, we will take the Duchess as the stand- 

 ard of hardiness. We know the fruit for culinary purposes ranks 

 very high, and the tree for hardiness is a model, its roots extending 

 deep into the earth after moisture, and its leaf is perfect. In the 

 Duchess we find about as many good qualities as in any one of our 



