STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 137 



flavor sub-acid; season between the Duchess and Wealthy. Mr. 

 L. "was not the original owner of this place and did not plant the 

 trees. The late G. J. Hoffman, at one time an active member 

 of the State Horticultural Society, was one of the original set- 

 tlers at Lake Okabena, and in 1871 or 2 planted this orchard and 

 started a nursery here. Mr. L. says this tree and many other 

 seedlings upon the place came from seed procured from Peter 

 M. Gideon, and planted by Mr. Hoffman. He does not know 

 that the tree has ever been transplanted from the place where 

 the seed was planted. Mr. Gideon writes us that he thinks he 

 furnished Mr. Hoffmau with seeds and cions from seedlings of 

 his own growing, about that time, and from the general appear- 

 ance we think this is a seedling of the Duchess, perhaps crossed 

 with Wealthy or Hyslop crab. For the last five or six years 

 this tree has borne good crops regularly. The trees in this 

 orchard are planted too closely for the best results, but we found 

 all fruit fair and entirely free from worms or the marks of the 

 curculio. 



IN COTTONWOOD COUNTY. 



We continued this trii? on to Windom, Mountain Lake and 

 other points in Cottonwood County, and attended the county fair. 

 At Windom we met De Wain Cook, of Dale township, a wide- 

 awake man, who is pursuing fruit culture under many disadvant- 

 ages. He has discovered and is cultivating a hardy Dewberry, 

 which^ if it comes near up to what he claims for it, will j)rove of 

 great value to our lists of hardy fruits. It has been cultivated 

 here thirteen years. We have many testimonials showing its 

 hardiness, productiveness, fair size and good quality of fruit, 

 etc., and have secured plants and had them sent to several of our 

 experimental stations to be tested and reported upon. At Moun- 

 tain Lake Ave learn of a few valuable seedling Russian pears and 

 plums, and but one orchard of Enssian apples of any promise, 

 which is a great disappointment to us, as we had frequently heard 

 that the Meunonites living here had brought with them trees 

 from Russia that were doing well. From all the information we 

 could gather the varieties brought over by them had disapj)oiuted 

 their expectations. There was no fruit exhibited at the county 

 fair except Siberians. 



October 15th. — We visited the orchard of Jacob Klein, of Hous- 

 ton County, to examine the tree of the variety of apples that re- 

 ceived the award of a second premium at the last state fair as 

 18 



