GENERAL FRUITS. 251 



handsome shape; bark smooth and clean. It bore fruit almost every sum- 

 mer; but after doing well eleven years it was struck with blight last summer 

 and I had to sacrifice some of its beautiful limbs. Last season one of my 

 Russians bore just one apple, as large as a Spitzenberg, which I refrained 

 from gathering so as to have it fully ripened to bring to this meeting. 

 But while at church one Sunday a neighbor's boy passed everything else 

 by and gathered that cherished fruit. To my sorrow two limbs of that 

 tree were struck with blight. I have burned all blighted wood but that 

 does not save the remainder. 



As for small fruits the yield in our section was quite encouraging. Ow- 

 ing to plentiful rains, strawberries wherever proper attention was given 

 them produced a fine crop of very large berries. The currants promised 

 an extra yield the first of the season, but later a great many dropped off, 

 thereby giving a medium crop, the Cherry and the common Red Dutch 

 bearing best. 



Gooseberries gave large crops, but were badly mildewed on many places 

 I visited. The Industry has been planted by many, but has given lit- 

 tle fruit yet and that not as large as was expected. On my place and 

 many others the red raspberry bore enormously and brought fifteen cents 

 a quart the season through, notwithstanding quantities of wild ones were 

 brought into market. I had about made up my mind to exterminate the 

 Snyder blackberries upon my grounds, so last fall did not lay them down, 

 and this spring let them grow at their own sweet will. But, as it is the 

 unexpected that happens, to my unbounded surprise they yielded a large 

 crop of delicious berries. Most varieties of plums bore well. One large, 

 wine-colored plum, nicely flavored, has blighted the last three years. It 

 begins to turn brown in spots, which soon spread over the whole plum, 

 eating through and drying up the pulp. As it is widely grown, we would 

 like to know of any remedy o'ther than cutting down. The Gregg is the 

 best black raspberry we have, and generally gives a good crop. 



Several of us, three or four years ago, planted a dewberry sold us as the 

 Lucretia. It has been very thrifty as to leaves and vines, but has never 

 shown a blossom. Grapes bore nicely wherever I found them planted, and 

 ripened earlier than usual. 



At Mr. John Dunewold's, Duelm, I found a beautiful orchard of young 

 apple trees, most of them bearing, and, wonderful to relate, not one 

 blighted. His place is bounded on one side by a forty-acre lake and on 

 the other sides by heavy timber, and is a mile or more from any other 

 apple trees. Perhaps, that is how he escapes the blight. Several years 

 ago Peter M. Gideon of Excelsior sent me a hundred seedling apple trees. 

 As my land was not in order, I gave them to Mr. E. Cross of Sauk Rapids. 

 Most of them have done well. Seven of them bore apples of good flavor 

 and about the size of a Hyslop, one, especially, tasting like a pear when 

 ripe and keeping until May; another was almost as large as a Duchess, 

 but a poor keeper. I believe Mrs. Cross has some specimens here with 

 her. Twenty- five are budded for fruit. 



Ten years ago I found very little fruit around the country except cur- 

 rants, a few gooseberries, crab apples and wild plums. Now, one can 

 hardly pass a farm without finding several varieties of cultivated fruit, 

 and we have quite a number of enthusiastic fruit growers, including 

 Messrs E. Cross, Dunewold, Myers, Fogg, Clifton and several others, not 

 excluding your humble servant. 



