346 ANNUAL REPORT 



McMahon White resembles the American Golden Russet very 

 much, while the leaf would pass for a good Eussian. 



Please to bear with your servant while he gives a little "fath- 

 erly advice" to other experimental stations. It is this — put in all 

 the time you can possibly afiford to do in growing all the different 

 varieties of fruit that are hardy in our climate /rom seed, and as 

 far as possible, select your seed from thornless varieties. Let the 

 apple seed come from the thickest and most pubescent-leaved 

 tree, providing the fruit is good, and if the leaves are of an up- 

 right habit, all the better. 



I discovered a thornless blackberry in our county last fall, 

 hardy enough to carry a good crop without having been covered. 

 I am in correspondence with a certain horticulturist at Colum- 

 bus, Ohio, who claims to have a collection of over forty varieties 

 of the blackberry, and I have made arrangements with him to fur- 

 nish me with a start of each of his thornless varieties, and also 

 the Lucretia Dewberry from the original stock, so in the spring 

 I am in hopes to be in condition to make a specialty of thornless 

 blackberries. 



We also have received a few plants of the Hardy Blackberry 

 for experiment from DeWain Cook, of Cottonwood County, Min- 

 nesota. 



F. K. Phoenix, the veteran pomologist of Wisconsin, had the 

 kindness to donate a few choice new varietes of the apple for my 

 experimental station, a year ago last fall. Among them were 

 Shields' Crab, Stubbs, Rucker, and others. They appear to be 

 hardy and all right, so far. 



The Ostheim Cherry, from Chas. Luedloff, is still in a flourish- 

 ing condition. American Yew is a hardy, native dwarf. I set 

 a plant of it in an exposed place on my grounds some twenty 

 years ago. It lived several years, and fruited, but finally died, 

 as I believe from drought. So last year I set several more, but 

 put them where they were well shaded by large evergreens. In 

 such situations I have no doubt they will do well, especially if 

 kept mulched. 



We have a fine lot of yearling Shellbark hickory trees, grown 

 from a basket of nuts sent us by John S. Harris, and grown on 

 his grounds, and said to be superior to the ordinary hickory. 



D. S. Grimes, of Denver, Col., who gave us such an interest- 

 ing and instructive paper for our last report on "Coniferous 

 Trees of the Rocky Mountains," also gave us at our state fair 

 and at the Southern Minnesota fair, at Rochester, some of the 



