444 ANNUAL REPORT 



ered a shorter road to success than experiineuting with our seed- 

 lings and them alone. 



The matter of growing grapes successfully here in Minnesota 

 is attracting some attention of late, and should receive greater 

 consideration at the hands of farmers generally. There has 

 heretofore been too little interest manifested in this direction. 

 I have on my table a letter from T. T. Lyon, president of the 

 Michigan State Horticultural Society, in which he says: "I was 

 greatly interested, not to say surprised, in looking over the ex- 

 hibits of fruit from your State at the Xew Orleans exposition, 

 and especially to see among tliem well-ripened Catawbas — a 

 variety whose home proper is in the Ohio Valley, and which we 

 in Southern Michigan only ripen with certainty in our more fa- 

 vorable localities."' 



I may say here that in visiting the celebrated vineyards near 

 Cleveland, last fall, on the shores of Lake Brie, that the Catawba, 

 which is quite a favorite with many, was not very much advanced 

 in its stage of ripening to that to be observed on the shores of 

 our own Minnetonka lake. It was evident that we could produce 

 the Concord, Moore's Early and Delaware even with equal cer- 

 tainty in our favorable localities. 



Your experience in Olmsted county will bear me out in the 

 assertion that there is hardly a better county in the State for 

 fruit culture, and I am glad to know that your society there is 

 still interested in advancing the horticultural interests of the 

 county as well as the State at large. 



Please send us a good delegation to our annual meeting. With 

 sincere wishes for your prosperity and begging to be excused for 

 this hasty note, I remain, very respectfully, 



S. D. HiLLMAN, Sec'y. 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. Wayland Stedman inquired concerning the paper of Mr. 

 Harris, if the larvae of the moth when concealed under the bark of 

 the tree, could not be killed by the apj^lication of some wash. 



Mr. Sias said he thought spraying the tree with Paris green 

 was the quickest way of exterminating the pests, and agreed with 

 Mr. Harris in the statement that insectiverous birds should be 

 encouraged to remain around the orchard as they are of great aid 

 to the fruit grower. He thought the best time to spray with Paris 

 green was just after the blossom had fallen. 



