STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 105 



he had a mulberry among his seedlings that was of good size and qual- 

 ity. The tree looked hardy, and he had it layered, and promised us a 

 sprout from it. which we expect to receive next spring. In this way, 

 by careful selections from thousands of bearing trees, and then plant- 

 ing seeds from these again, in time we shall no doubt produce a large, 

 fine mulberry, like the Downing Ever-bearing. 



We found some of the Mennonites well up in grape culture, small 

 fruits and vegetables. 



IN DODGE COUNTY. 



Next visited C. H. Pond and Alexander Houston, of Kassou, Dodge 

 county. Mr. Houston has a seedling of the Duchess some fourteen 

 years old. The seed was planted by Charles Gove, a former owner of 

 the farm. The fruit is thought to be superior to the Duchess in qual- 

 ity, and a better keeper; cannot say just how long it will keep. Mr. 

 C. H. Pond, if not the principal fruit grower in Dodge county, is fast 

 tending that way He has a native plum grove that produces a large 

 amount of very fine fruit, perhaps fully up to the De Soto, Rolling 

 Stone, and other cultivated varieties.* 



IN KICE COUNTY. 



October 14th we visit the Peerless apple tree in Rice county. We 

 first called on 0. F. Brand, to have him show us the way, but he was 

 out of town, and we had to find our way the best we could. J. G. 

 Miller, the owner of the tree, gave us the following history of the 

 Peerless: "Seedling of the Duchess; age, seventeen or eighteen 

 years; has been transplanted once; stands on a comuion clay soil, 

 with a row of willows on each side; its season is from about the first 

 of November to the first of January." Mr. Brand has got all the 

 sions so far. It has borne eight or ten bushels in one season, and the 

 average about four to six bushels a year We found other promising 

 seedlings in this orchard, and Mr. Miller is to be congratulated for his 

 success in growing seedlings. But I will not weary you further, as 

 our chairman will doubtless give you a detailed report of the many 

 good things found at J. G-. Miller's. 



