HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 357 



climated, or trees imported from other states; and also to learn 

 what age the trees should be. Upon these three things hinge 

 much of our possibility to succeed. As for varieties, we must 

 give up all hopes of making a long lived orchard out of old 

 eastern sorts. "Experience is a good schooi," and if anyone 

 has had experience in horticulture it is the veterans of Minne- 

 sota. Then what better way is there to settle the question of va- 

 rieties than to follow their list for "general cultivation," which 

 has been culled and reculled for over a score of years? It is 

 true that experiments are going on and apples being' produced 

 which show signs of sterling qualities in the last few years, but 

 let their worth be thoroughly tested before hazarding much upon 

 them. Then I refrain from offering the names of any of my 

 "pets," but just say that the Duchess, Wealthy, some of the 

 Anis, Transparent, and many other Eussian families of the pyrus 

 inalus can be raised with profit; but they are mostly fall, or, at 

 the best, early winter apples. 



The Grucheoka seems to be the hardiest of the late-keeping 

 Russian varieties, which have been tried at the State Experiment 

 Station. The Transcendent, Hyslop, Whitney and Minnesota 

 are crabs or hybrids, commonly grown. 



The Weaver and EoUingstone plums can be successfully raise.d. 

 The verdict in the state report ought to be final; for it will in- 

 clude decisions from all the experiment stations of the state, 

 among them the State University Station near St. Anthony 

 Park, the newly created experimental station at Owatonna, and 

 Mr. Gideon's at Excelsior. 



Notwithstanding all the untiring efforts which the horticultur- 

 ists of the state have made to obtain a first class late keeping 

 winter apple, the ideal is not yet produced and the opportunity 

 is still presented to someone to make himself immortal in the 

 horticultural world. The best way I can suggest to win this 

 laurel is to plant seeds of the very best late keeping varieties of 

 the common apple and await results. Care should be taken to 

 know from what variety the seed was taken and by what variety 

 fertilized. If this little pains were taken much of the mystery 

 about the seeming freaks which arise from planting seeds would 

 be explained. Then, whoever starts an orchard, let him also 

 start a seed bed at the same time. 



In setting an orchard do not stake all your fortune on one va- 

 riety; that would be like a farmer seeding his land to just one 

 kind of grain. The farmer must diversify his products in order 



