EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 211 



North German apples, until now we have about 300 varieties. It is my 

 object to thin out this large list and reduce it to reasonable proportions 

 as soon as may be. 



There was considerable root-killing in some locations last winter, 

 and last summer blight was very severe and thinned out some va- 

 rieties very severely; but I look upon its apearance as a positive benefit to 

 experimental horticulture, for it has indicated the great resistant qualities 

 of a few varieties while it has shown the absolute worthlessness of many 

 kinds. A few varieties have stood up fresh and green all summer, while 

 close to them other varieties, perhaps, blighted to death. A few of the 

 kinds that have most successfully resisted the work of the blight are 

 Duchess, Anisim, Lieby, Red Wine, Breskovka (152 m) and Borovinka. 

 The Lieby had a very little blight on the ends of a few twigs, the others 

 mentioned were not at all affected. The variety referred to as Anisim 

 is the same as that formerly exhibited here as Good Peasant. It is an 

 early winter apple of extra fine quality. I regard it as one of the most 

 promising kinds that has been tried in this state. The tree is one of 

 the hardiest. Breskovka (152 m) is very much like the Yellow Transparent 

 in season, size, color and productiveness, but while the Yellow Transpar- 

 ent is killed by blight the Breskovka seems to be proof against it. I re- 

 gard it as a very valuable kind. 



TOP-WORKING APPLES. 



The subject of top-working somewhat tender varieties of apples on 

 hardy stocks is one that is exciting among orchardists mufh interest in 

 this state, and some results already achieved in this line seem to indicate 

 that by this plan varieties of no greater hardiness than the Wealthy may 

 be grown much farther north than at present seems practicable. One of 

 the best stocks for top-working is the Virginia crab, and last spring I 

 planted fifty of them for this purpose. 



SEEDLING APPLES. 



In my report last year I referred to the importance of experimenting 

 with seedlings from some of the best varieties of apples. I have grown 

 the season just past 900 plants from seed of the most hardy desirable 

 known varieties of apples. While this is a promising field for experiment, 

 yet with these seedlings we know only the maternal parent, and, of course, 

 the work is made more a matter of chance than it would be did we know 

 both parents. With the object of doing better work, 1 last spring made 

 hand crosses of the following hardy kinds of apples with the Lieby, using 

 the latter as the mother plant: Duchess of Oldenburgh, Christmas, Good 

 Peasant, Borovinka and Charlamoff. This work may be compared to the 

 systematic, intelligent breeding of domestic animals, and from these 

 crossed seeds I expect much better results than from ordinary seedlings. 



PLUMS. 



The outlook for improvement in this fruit is very encouraging. 

 We have now forty-seven named varieties on trial, and are making a spec- 

 ialty of raising seedlings from the best kinds, and have now over four 

 thousand plum seedlings, from which we expect to select at least two 

 hundred promising plants for fruiting. The large trees in the orchard 

 have borne regularly very heavy crops of fruit until this year, when they 

 blossomed profusely but the pollen was washed away by heavy rains and 

 the crop was a total failure. 



