MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOOIETY. 83 
So great is the gain in the reproductive process from crab seed, 
that we may truly call the crab a Godsend. For by careful selection 
we retain the tree in all its thrift, hardiness, and profusion of bear- 
ing, with the fruit enlarged and ameliorated at each remove. Those 
_ coming into bearing soonest show most crab in tree, and those show- 
ing most apple in composition of tree bear the largest fruit, and gen- 
erally, though not always, best in flavor. 
We have about 600 choice seedlings, from seed of our own grow- 
ing, now set in orchard, and more than a thousand yet to set, which 
we expect to set next spring. Of those set in orchard about 60 have 
borne fruit, many far surpassing the famous Transcendent in size, 
flavor, beauty of fruit, and in hardiness of tree. In fact the average 
hardiness is better than that of Transcendent. The finest samples 
of our seedling trees have not borne yet, but those that have borne 
stand a pledge that better is yet to come in. 
We have 4,600 apple, pear, plum and cherry trees in orchard, and 
those mostly hardy, reliable trees, the tender ones pretty well killed 
‘out. A vast amount are crab stocks, top worked with good varieties 
of large apples, which process we find to be a success with all varie- 
ties that we have so worked, not one having winter killed with us, 
though others have lost trees so worked, but ours were well mulched 
and theirs were not. I find that acrab root well mulched will repair 
any break that a cold winter may have made on its top, be that top 
of ever so tender a variety of apple. We lost a great many trees 
two years ago from excessive cold, but no crab trees so lost, though 
the blight took in the crabs full as bad, if not worse than on the ap- 
ple—suffered great loss on all. 
The blight and the cold of two years ago gave us a great back-set, 
but we are fast recovering by re-setting with our hardy seedlings, 
which are proof against all extremes of cold. Our reverses have been 
great financial drawbacks, but we never gave up in despair, but at 
each reverse sought new varieties and better seeds, till now success 
has crowned us—and only a matter of time, und a rich harvest is 
reaped, so far as the apple is concerned. But of the pear I am not 
quite so sanguine—yet feel quite sure that out of the great number 
of varieties we will find some that will stand our climate. We have 
over one hundred varieties of pears now in cultivation, and as many 
more tried and gone. 
The cherry, we found, was not a paying crop; and it is mostly 
cleared out, and something else set in its place. 
The peach and cultivated plums were failures. Grapes a paying 
success, as is also the strawberries, the blackcap raspberries, goose- 
berries and currants. 
To sum up, with us fruit growing is a success, and the owner of 
land in the northwest that now fails to plant in variety sufficient for 
all family demands is a.sluggard. Our break-downs of the past are 
bridges over which he can pass without fear of failure. The cost of 
success we have met, in poverty paid it, so that no one needs to pass 
over our experience, run our risks or foot our bills of losses to get a 
full supply of fruit in great variety, lasting the year through. 
When we began our career we cultivated the ground, but did not 
mulch any. ‘That year the trees killed, some only in the root, others 
