48 ANNUAL REPORT. newer 
CONDITION » AND PROSPECTS OF HORTICULTURE IN SOUTHEASTERN MINNE- 
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Mr. President iad Gentlemen of the State Bostoulturat Society: 
Authority. 
Article 6 of the by-laws adopted for the government of this Society at 
the annual meeting of 1874, requires each member of the general fruit 
committee to render an annual report upon the fruit crop of his respective 
district, and present a limited list of fruits best adapted to general culti- 
vation in the district which he represents, and in accordarce therewith I 
present the following for district No. 1. 
Adaptation. 
There is not a county within our State better adapted to the raising of 
most varieties of fruit than Houston. The soil is the very best, clay and 
sandy loam preponderating nearly everywhere. There are no extensive 
tracts of prairie, and the uneven surface of the land furnishes ample 
drainage and every desirable aspect for protection. 
Before Settlement. 
Before its settlement by the white man, many varieties of wild fruits 
were abundant, and some of them of superior quality. The strawberry, 
black raspberry, native plums and wild grapes were growing so plentifully 
that the first settlers had a bountiful supply of them just for the picking. 
But as improvements have progressed, and stock is allowed to roam at 
large, these fruits (with the exception of plums) are fast disappearing, 
and now hundreds of families do not average to have a single quart of 
strawberries or raspberries per year, and with all the favorable circum- 
stances before mentioned but very little tame or improved fruit has been 
produced. In my opinion this may be traced to a lack of horticultural 
knowledge. 
First Planting. 
The first settlers generally commenced planting fruit trees as soon as 
they could get a piece of ground broken up, and they usually selected those 
varieties that were favorites in their former homes, and practiced the 
methods of cultivation and pruning that were in use in the older States. 
They had no idea that one variety was hardier than another, and there- 
fore planted largely of the early harvest, Rhode Island greening, golden pip- 
pin, jeniton, rambo, &c., from the Rochester, New York, Nursery. These 
trees planted in the virgin soil made a rank, watery and late growth, and 
seldom survived the second winter. They re-planted with western grown 
trees and fared no better, and very soon it became the universal opinion 
that apples could not be raised in Minnesota. This opinion greatly re- 
tarded tree planting up to the time of the organization of the State Horti- 
cultural Society, when it again began to excite attention, and within three 
or four years of that time almost every farm had its little orchard of iron 
