268 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
anything about Russia,only by hearsay. We know that it is a cold 
country and extends a good ways north of this—that it is a very 
large country. We know that in some portions of Russia they 
are able to raise peaches and apricots, and the finest kind of 
sweet cherries. In other portions they can only raise the very 
hardiest of apples and pears, and that in a latitude so far north 
that trees twenty-five and even fifty years old are only 
shrubs. Now, it seems to me that if we can get varieties from 
that country and try them under the same conditions as those 
under which they originated, if we can get samples from those 
districts similar to our own and give them a trial, we can at 
least plant the seed and go on with a good prospect of getting 
something that will flourish here. We never ought to have 
recommended any Russian apples for general cultivation. We 
have recommended a good many other apples since this society 
was organized twenty-five years ago, that we ought not to have 
recommended, and it has frequently set us back. Fortunately 
we are not now obliged to throw out feelers all over 
the country, and try and induce farmers to experiment, as we 
were in the beginning. This is largely due to the influence of 
this society in the agricultural experiment stations. We had to 
bring a great deal of effort to bear to enable us to reach the 
position we now occupy. But, while we have donea great work 
there is much yet to be done; and I am in favor of not only hav- 
ing state stations, but also sub-stations in every county. It may 
cripple one class of nurserymen, but it wont hurt the nursery- 
man who carries on an honest business. 
RUSSIAN APPLES. 
A TALK BY J. B. MITCHELL, CRESCO, IOWA. 
I do not know, gentlemen, that I am able to tell you very 
much about the Russian apple. I hardly know what you want 
to know about it. Itis true that I have had experience with 
them for some time. As early as 1872 I obtained my first scions 
from the Department, and right here let me say that I have 
never tried any of the later importations, that is, those that are 
being tried at the College Farm, and I have something like 
about 100 varieties. Until ’84 and ’85 I didn’t have so much fa- 
vor for them as I have had since. At that time I was growing 
other varieties that were apparently doing very well, but those 
winters tested them very severely, and many of them were in- 
