192 ANNUA.L REPORT 



Mr. Smith. Such a law would not hurt the honest dealer. 



Mrs. Stager inquired if there was such a thing as a " strawberry- 

 tree," which grew three feet high and bore fruit so one could 

 stand up and pick it; this was one of the things sold by L. L. 

 May & Co. Several of the trees had been sold to mechanics at 

 Sauk Eapids. 



Mr. Harris said there was a tree called the Wahoo which was 

 probably the species referred to. A firm had been operating 

 about Caledonia and he had been called upon to examine some 

 of the stock delivered there. He found they had been selling 

 trees at ten dollars a dozen, calling them the Gideon apple, 

 which in every respect resembled the Ben Davis. Another firm 

 had been operating in this country, representing to sell stock 

 from the Sparta Chain Nurseries, while the stock was grown in 

 Southern Ohio. They had sold budded trees representiug them 

 to be hardier than root grafts. He had been to Sparta, Wis., 

 and found one nursery of less than two acres, planted with one 

 and two year old crabs chiefly, with barely a carload of such 

 trees as the firm in question sells. 



Mr. Labbitt inquired how many nursery firms there were in 

 this State that sent out stock true to name; he had not found 

 one of them yet. 



Mr. Smith thought the greatest obstacle to the fruit growing 

 interest was the fraudulent practices of tree agents, as people 

 who patronized them not only lost their time and money, but 

 lost faith in fruit growing iu the State. This project of licensing 

 might be a check, but the only successful remedy was to educate 

 the people against x)urchasing these untried new varieties. He 

 had been in the Eed Eiver country, where they were infested 

 with tree peddlers selling ''hardy" EussianS, one agent repre- 

 senting that his trees were imported direct from Eussia. In the 

 northern part of the State a gang of some fifteen men had been 

 working, under a leader; one of their specialties was a wonderful 

 combination which nobody else had called the "Hardy Hybrid 

 Perpetual Eose," grafted on a dogwood tree. [Laughter.] He 

 referred to several other instances within his own knowledge. 



Mr. Labbitt. Mr. President, I have paid out in the last ten 

 years, I guess, over a hundred dollars for fruit trees, etc. I live 

 very near a nursery ; in the spring I used' to drive up to get my 

 trees, and, as I supposed, bought a good many Duchess trees, 

 which did not prove to be of that variety ; I bought several of 

 the Wealthies without getting one. I finally thought I would 



