98 ANNUAL REPORT 



Mr. Somerville. Very near the general level of our prairie. 

 There are some valleys near by. 



President Elliot. The cold air goes into these valleys. Is there 

 any water near? 



Mr. Somerville. Yes, sir. There is a spring branch on the 

 north side of my orchard, about ten rods away. I have ten acres 

 enclosed for orchard purposes; that is, I have it surrounded by 

 evergreens, Norway Spruce, mostly. Then I have that cut off into 

 squares; the southwest two and a half acres I use for small fruits 

 and for garden purposes and my buildings, and the other seven 

 and a half acres I have in orchard. My trees have done well, and 

 I have made more off that piece of ground, proportionally, than 

 from any other portion of m y farm. 



A member. Is this manured annually? 

 Mr. Somerville. Every year. 



A member. What do you keep to get your manure? 

 Mr. Somerville. Cattle and horses. 

 A member. How many cattle? 

 Mr. Somerville. About thirty. 

 A member. Does it all go on this orchard? 

 Mr. Somerville. Oh, no; I couldn't put it all on that orchard; 

 that would be too much. 



A member. What state do you live in? 



Mr. Somerville. State of Minnesota, 12 miles east of Rochester. 

 I suppose I have raised as many apples as any man in the State. 

 In 1860 I went into the orchard business, and in 1862 I set out 

 Talman Sweets, Willow Twigs, Fameuse and a number of other 

 eastern varieties. I have raised perhaps seven hundred bushels of 

 the Talman Sweet, but about three years ago they died out. I 

 intend, however, to set out some more trees in the spring. 



Mrs. Kennedy. Are we to understand that the forty loads of 

 manure was spread over seventy acres? 



Mr. Somerville. No, I spread that on one acre. 

 Mr. Gaylord. There is one little point. I know Mr. Somer- 

 ville has been successful in orcharding. I have a neighbor by the 

 name of John Elliot, and I will tell you what he told me. He said, 

 "Mr. Somerville has got an extraordinary good location; if I under- 

 stand what is necessary for an orchard, and he takes care of it. He 

 is a man that has sagacity enough to know how to make good his 

 surroundings." I said, "How is it about his altitude?" Mr. Elliot 

 scratched his head a little and said, "Mr. Gaylord, I will tell you 

 what a surveyor told me. He said, 'It is the highest land any- 

 where in the State of Minnesota.' " 



