_ MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 127 
the experience of over twenty years, including one or two exceptionally 
severe winters, has proved that there are a very few kinds which are worthy 
of very general culture. It was fortunate for the orchards of Minnesota 
that the severe winter of ’72-3 was not longer deferred. Planters in this 
‘locality were setting or about to set large numbers of such varieties as Ben 
Davis, Fameuse, Pewaukee, &c., of which single trees were to be found 
looking very promising and bearing fair crops of fruit. Much, however, 
was yet to be learned by the settler in this yet comparatively new and untried 
climate. The lesson came with sudden severity, but none too soon; and our 
hopes of fair orchards of those varieties of apples whose names were 
familiar to us of old, were quickly blasted. But though the list of eligible 
kinds is greatly curtailedit still contains those of merit, as the Duchess of 
Oldenburg, the Tetofsky, and above all, Minnesota’s own offspring, the new 
and beautiful Wealthy. There are a few other sorts than these, not so 
hardy, which are doing pretty well about here and may, no doubt, be planted 
with profit, such as the Haas, Plumb’s Cider, &c. 
' Duchess. 
Of the Duchess it canndt be said that it came through the ‘‘ hard” winter 
totally unscathed, but I do not remember to have seen a tree in this section 
that I believe to have been killed back in the top, as the term is usually 
applied, or otherwise injured above ground, except upon the trunk or main 
branches on the S. or SW. sides. There were occasional trees the following 
spring, as indeed there have been other springs, before and since, which 
had the appearance of being injured uniformly all through the tree, some of 
which ultimately withered and died, while others recovered. Their appear- 
ance would indicate injury to the root, although individual trees, weakened 
from special cause, may have succumbed to our rigorous climate. 
In regard to the number of bushels of the variety ripening in this section 
the past season I can only conjecture and should place the amount at not far 
from 400 bushels, of which the pioneer of fruit culture, Peter M. Gideon, 
contributed nearly one-half. Most of the bearing’ trees are young, but few 
being 10 or 12 years of age and consequently the average per tree is low. 
Tetofsky. ¢ 
Of the Tetofsky, I can say but little, as there are few trees of this 
kind bearing here, except that it seems to be nearly, perhaps quite, as hardy 
as the preceding. Its fruit is such a very short keeper that it has little merit 
as a market variety, and a very few trees are aS many as any planter has 
use for. 
Wealthy. 
In the Wealthy are centered many hopes, and its ultimate success with us 
is very nearly assured. I speak thus cautiously of this beautiful apple as 
an experience of many years in tree culture in this latitude has made me 
