80 ANNUAL REPORT. 
A FRUIT FARM OF WINONA COUNTY. | 
BY PROFESSOR WILLIAM F. PHELPS, OF THE NORMAL SCHOOL. 
Having enjoyed the opportunity of inspecting one of the finest 
farms in this region, and knowing the deep interest that is felt in the 
question of fruit culture in our State, I venture to send you a few 
facts that may be worthy of attention by the agricultural readers of 
your transactions. ‘ 
The farm referred to is owned and worked by Mr. Stephen El- 
dridge, and is located upon what is known as Homer ridge, about 
five miles to the southeast of Winona, and two miles from the Mis- 
sissippi. The ridge is elevated about five hundred feet above the 
surface of the river, and averages perhaps from half to three quarters 
of a mile in width. It was formerly covered with a thrifty growth of 
forest trees, principally oak, but is now the site of several splendid 
farms, among which that of Mr. Eldridge, containing 140 acres, is 
the most remarkable. He purchased the property some ten years 
ago, has cleared it all but 40 acres of timber, and has erected upon 
it a commodious dwelling house and one of the most convenient and 
well constructed barns in Winona county. The land lies mainly on 
the top of this ridge, with a somewhat gradual slope to the south and 
east. The soil is a strong clayey loam, and capable of producing the 
best of crops. In the ten years that he has occupied it, Mr. Eldridge 
informs me that he has never failed but once to realize from 30 to 33 
bushels of wheat to the acre. That exception was the dry season of 
1870, when his crops averaged 25 bushels. His crops of corn, oats, 
hay, and potatoes have been eyually successful, although he has 
given less attention to that class of products than to others, which I 
had more especially designed to mention. 
It is as a fruit grower that this modest, undemonstrative gentle- 
man has achieved the most surprising success, and to this brancu of 
his operations let us briefly turn our attention. Two pieces of 
ground, comprising, all told, only 17 acres, are devoted to fruit 
raising. These fields slope gently to the east, and are separated by 
a narrow lane leading to the woods in a ravine between two spurs of 
the ridge. On these two pieces of ground there are about 800 apple 
trees of some eight years growth, the bodies of the trees being about 
six to eight inches in diameter and standing in rows 20 feet apart. 
There are about 30 varieties of this kind of fruit, among the more 
important of which are the Red Astrachan, the Duchess of Oldenberg, 
the Fameuse, the Golden Russet, the Bell Flower and others. 
Corresponding with each row of apple trees there are three rows of 
raspberry bushes, comprising two varieties each, of the red and 
black. ‘The middle row of raspberry bushes is in line with the row 
of apple trees, and the others are on each side. The remaining 
spaces between the apple trees, embracing some ten or twelve feet, 
