148 ANNUAL REPORT 



shapely and beautiful. All seasons are represented in time of 

 ripening, early summer, or harvest, fall, autumn, winter, and 

 some of them last from one season to the next; one variety in 

 particular is a sweet apple, similar in size and shape to the red 

 Astrachan, larger, and a little longer; the boughs have to be x>rop- 

 ped to support the heavy loads of fruit, annually borne; the fruit 

 is striped, red and white, and is as handsome an apple as could 

 be desired; the quality could not be improved; its season, Sep- 

 tember; this is one of a dozen equally good for its season and 

 type. 



No time was lost in the purchase of the orchard, and we have 

 to-day growing nearly 50,000 grafts from these, valuable seed- 

 lings and are confident that they will prove to be a veritable 

 bonanza to this region that so vigorously demands ironclads. 



The report of the committee on Eussian apples being called 

 for the following paper was then read: 



EEPORT ON RUSSIAN APPLES. 



By A. W. Silts, Rochester. 



Mr. President and Members : 



Two years ago we had a grand test winter and last year a splen 

 did test summer for the new Russians, and found that they be- 

 haved better under this frozen and fiery ordeal than any other 

 plants within our knowledge properly belonging under the botani- 

 cal head of Pyrus Mains. Now, there is said to be a reason for 

 everything; so please to bear with your committee while we in- 

 dulge in a little theory in regard to why the Russian trees stood 

 these severe tests better than our American varieties. We view 

 the situation in this way: For many hundreds of years the same 

 severe tests as those above noted have been going on among their 

 millions of seedling and imported varieties, many times no doubt 

 thinning their ranks more severely than with us, but always re- 

 sulting year after year in "the survival of the fittest," every 

 generation becoming better and better adapted to its cold, arid 

 situation, the sun and drying winds serving to increase the thick- 

 ness and pubescence of the leaves until after many hundred years 

 they develop a family of trees, which, perhaps, we might be 

 allowed to designate as the Silver-leaved family, with leaves, in 



