MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 33 
apples. I think they ought to be placed upon the premium 
lists in a separate class and advanced to the position which 
they merit. Some varieties are reported to be long keeper 
and others superior for eating from the hand. , 
MEETINGS FOR DISCUSSION. 
One meeting per year is not sufficient to do justice to the 
questions which are demanding our attention, but it has been 
found difficult to get the members out to more. I do not be- 
lieve this is the result of a want of interest on their part. Our 
State is large, the summers are short, and the fruit growers 
and farmers are crowded with work, and considerable time 
would be consumed in going to and returning from a summer 
meeting, while the traveling expenses incurred by those living 
in remote parts of the State is an item of considerable impor- 
tance. Perhaps a practical remedy for this would be the 
division of the State into districts, and holding summer meet- 
ings alternately in the several districts. J think this hardly 
practicable at present, but it can be brought about in time. 
SEEDLINGS AND NEW FRUITS. 
Nothing in the line of seedlings or from the new varieties 
has come up for our notice since the last annual meeting, and 
from the few varieties of seedling apples exhibited at the last 
State Fair, it is evident that some of the competitors for favor 
will never again be heard from. The Wealthy of Excelsior 
still maintains its reputation for hardiness, and doubtless 
could with safety be placed upon the list for general cultiva- 
tion. Experiments with seedlings are being made by indi- 
viduals in various parts of the State, and some parties are 
conducting them upon a system that cannot fail to make our 
future in apple growing equal to, if not in advanee of, any 
State in the Northwest. (I would refer you to a communication 
from Peter M. Gideon, of Excelsior, published in the December 
number of vol. for 1873 of the Horticulturist, p. 369.) 
The Wealthy originated with and was brought to notice by 
Mr. Gideon. He has now under cultivation several hundred 
seedlings that bear marks of being a cross between the Crab 
and Wealthy Duchess, Blue Pearman and other superior 
varieties that endured the severity of last winter without injury. 
If any improvement can be made it must be by hybridizing 
our best varieties of apples with the crabs or the variations 
which come about through cultivation, or the planting only 
of home-grown seeds of the hardiest varieties. Necessity is 
called the mother of invention. May not our necessity prove 
