326 ANNUAL REPORT 



noble red grape of first quality and can be sold at 8 cts. per lb., and 

 when dead ripe can be kept until January with little trouble. The 

 Worden is a few days earlier than the Concord, over which it is a 

 great improvement, but it is still some days too late. 



One of the most satisfactory fruits that we raise is the plum. Its 

 hardiness, health and productivenes with very indifferent care and 

 the excellent quality of the improved varieties should commend it 

 to every farmer. In "business like" qualities it much resembles 

 the currant. The De Soto is perhaps the best of the well known 

 varieties; we have also the Forest Garden, which, being some two 

 weeks earlier serves to prolong the season. 



In the years 1885 and 1887 we set some of the following vari- 

 eties of Russian apples precured from Prof. Budd, of Iowa, A. G. 

 Tuttle, of Wisconsin, and Chas. Luedloff, of this state, Nos. 282, 

 206, 4m, 284, 252, 984, Antonovka, Charlamoff, White Transparent, 

 Longneld, Blue Anis, Vargul, Barloff, Hibernal and Repka Mal- 

 enka. In this short trial No. 282, Hibernal, Lieby, Charlamoff, 

 Long Arcade and Blue Anis have behaved perfectly. Barloff has 

 blighted some, 206 sun scalds and appears not quite healthy. An- 

 tonovka has been killed by patches of dead bark girdling the tree 

 below the snow line. Longfield, Repka Malenka, and White 

 Transparent are far from hardy. 284 early died of blight. . But 

 little can be decided from this short experiment. The Wealthy as 

 a young tree was as hardy and healthy as the best of these Rus- 

 sians. We have been somewhat disappointed in this trial of Rus- 

 sians. Coming from so cold and exposed a climate we had reason 

 to hope that they would be well adapted to our state and that at 

 least before they had borne fruit they would nearly all stand well 

 our severe winters, but not one of them can as yet be considered 

 safe to plant largely as a business venture. The Duchess with us 

 is a perfect success, and the Wealthy, although a short lived tree, 

 bears so abundantly in its youth and is such an excellent apple 

 that if planted something after the following plan it might be a good 

 tree for the home orchard. Let two or three hundred two-year old 

 trees be procured (by dealing directly with a nursery, they will not 

 cost over ten cents apiece). Let them be planted in long drills 

 several rods apart but planted thickly in the rows, say seven or 

 eight feet apart. And then let the land between the rows be used 

 for such cultivated crops as potatoes, corn, beans, or garden, plant- 

 ing the crop in drills running the same way as the rows of trees. 

 By this plan the first cost is small, no land is lost, the trees are but 

 little in the way, and if the land be rich the trees will grow rapidly, 

 and if the Wealthy, will soon give the farmer a bountiful and beau- 

 tiful supply of winter apples. It is also a peculiarity of this vari- 

 ety that when killed to the ground by blight or otherwise it will 

 send up strong suckers which by being thinned to the strongest 

 shoot will soon become a tree in the place of its parent. We are 

 in different conditions from Eastern orchardists and must pursue 

 different methods. Small outlay, early maturing varieties, close 

 planting in wide rows and making the land pay rent with culti- 



