HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 299 



It seems evident to me that our crab list is susceptible of great 

 improvement for there are few varieties against which serious ob- 

 jections cannot be raised. I mentioned in my last report that I 

 have grafted twenty-seven varieties of seedlings grown from seeds 

 of a seedling of the Tetofsky. These trees are now two years old. 

 A few ofthem are reasonably smooth but most of them are so 

 scrubby and thorny as to clearly indicate a crab origin. This may 

 not seem so strange when it is known that Ingraham Gould first 

 introduced the Tetofsky at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, in the early 

 50's under the name of Russian Crab. 



The testing of new seedlings as to productiveness and quality 

 of fruit has been delayed for want of trees of suitable size for 

 top grafting. To meet this want, of the one hundred and twenty 

 trees placed in orchard last spring about one hundred were crabs 

 and hybrids designed for this class of work. I have also cut 

 Scions of Greenwood Crab for one thousand root grafts believ- 

 ing this variety to be unsurpassed as a stock on which to graft 

 the more tender varieties. 



RUSSIAN APPLES. 



Of about two hundred varieties of Russian apples, mostly four 

 years old. a few have been root killed a few others are not lock- 

 ing well but mo6t of them are in a thriving condition and scions 

 have been cut from the best for the present winter's grafting. 

 Fearing that I did not have the hardiest amoDg the Russians I 

 requested Prof. Budd last spring to send me a dozen or more 

 kinds of the hardiest he could select. He sent the following: 

 18M. 7M. 130M. 15M. 141M. 1M. 17M. 10M. 14M. 87M. 431 Dept. 

 190, 544, 596. Simbirsk and Antonovka. 



If no test of hardiness is conclusive until a tree has attained 

 bearing size and has produced exhausting crops, then the best 

 thing for us to do while waiting is to sift out those varieties not 

 likely to attain bearing size. Even this work cannot be done with- 

 out the advent of very severe winters. 



CHERRIES AND PEARS. 



Five varieties each, of Russian Cherries and Pears have been 

 planted. All are alive. The Cherries have made a satisfactory 

 growth, considering the season, but the Pears have not. 



PLUMS. 



Four varieties have been added to the list and twenty-four trees 

 have been placed in orchard. Of these the Speer, Owatonna, 

 Miner and Early Red are No. 1 in vigor, Weaver No. 2, Black Prune, 

 Rockford and White Nicholas No. 3 and Wolf and Garden are dead. 

 The Rollingstone root killed in nursery last winter. Over four 

 quarts of selected plum pits have been planted. 



RUSSIAN WILLOWS AND POPLARS 



are all doing fairly well except Popul us fastigataor dilitata, which 

 killed to the ground last winter. New shoots have grown five or 

 six feet. I have found this to be our worthless Lombardy poplar 

 under the disguise of its scientific name. The following were 



