132 ANNUAL REPORT 



time the trees have been killed upon .this farm, but he considers 

 that they lived and bore fruit long enough to pay him well. He 

 is replanting, using such of the old varieties as had proved the 

 most profitable, and adding, for trial, new varieties that promise 

 well, as fast as they can be procured from reliable parties, giv- 

 ing preference to such as are reputed to come into early bearing. 



Mr. Lord is a fine horticulturist, careful in keeping track of 

 varieties, and we trust whoever knows of choice varieties of 

 native plums, Eussian or seedling apples, will give him an 

 opportunity to test them. 



Mr. Lord is doubtless the most successful blackberry grower 

 in the State, and has no reason to complain of the success he has 

 had with raspberries and strawberries. 



IN FARIBAULT COUNTY. 



August 21st. — Winnebago City is a prosperous village in Far- 

 ibault County, one hundred and seventy miles west of the Mis- 

 sissippi Eiver. Faribault County, on the southern boundary of 

 the State, is one of the best agricultural counties in Minnesota. 

 The general surface of the land is gently undulating; the soil is 

 a deep, black, sandy loam, well adapted to growing grains, 

 grasses, vegetables, and probably all varieties of the small 

 fruits. It is essentially a prairie county, although native tim- 

 bers are quite well represented, and on every hand are groves of 

 planted timber dotting the country and affording shelter to stock 

 and farm buildings. These groves vary in size from one to 

 twenty acres; some of them are over twenty years old and fur- 

 nish their owners with sufficient timber for fuel and the ordi- 

 nary demands of the farm. 



We spent a day at Winnebago City and vicinity and visited 

 the original tree of the Hotchkish seedling apple. The seed from 

 which the tree originated was planted by Mrs. Kimball, deceased, 

 over twenty-five years ago. The tree has been a very prolific 

 bearer, producing a large, green apple, said to be of excellent 

 quality and a long keeper. Old settlers of the town pronounce 

 it the best apple they have overseen in the West, while it has al- 

 ways been as hardy as the Duchess and seemed to stand our winters 

 perfectly, until 1883-4. In the spring of 1884 it showed signs of 

 injury. The present owner. Dr. Beebe, fearing that it was about 

 to die, has given it what might well be termed heroic surgery, 

 and removed a large portion of the top. A careful examination 



