APPLES. 275 



into bearing and furnish him with apples well into the winter. But 

 although most of these trees would prove worthless when grown on other 

 roots than their own, yet he would get an orchard that will repay him for 

 his trouble, and, perhaps, furnish one of the trees for the list we are look- 

 ing for, for the future, which may or may not be one in a thousand 

 planted. But, if seedlings were thus largely grown what might we not 

 expect in valuable new seedlings. 



These conclusions are arrived at from my own experience and success 

 with seedlings and the observation of seedlings around me. But, with the 

 general planter orchards from seeds can never take the place of tiursery 

 grown trees as far as the hardy kinds we have will fill the bill, but will 

 pay the man growing them while he is helping to find the kinds sought 

 for. Let us plant more apple seed of our hardiest apples. 



VALUABLE RUSSIAN FRUITS. 



PROF. J. L. BUDD, AMES, IOWA. 

 [Read at the meeting of the Northern Iowa Horticultural Society at Humboldt.] 



Mr.'President: A little thought will show that this is a subject for a 

 large book rather than a brief report such as is admissable in our pro- 

 gram. 



Out of the mixed and misnamed varieties imported by the Department 

 of Agriculture have come many sorts which are proving valuable in some 

 parts of our great domain. 



The importations by the college were made from ten to twelve years 

 later, when Dr. Regel, Dr. Shroeder, Dr. Arnold and other Russian pom- 

 ologists had done much valuable work in correcting the nomenclature of 

 Russian fruits. Our importations were also from varied sections of the 

 great east plain of Europe, including the parts where dent corn, melons 

 and tomatoes ripen as perfectly as in central Iowa. Yet our importations 

 had special cases of mixing of scions, and of blunders in naming; but 

 the nature of these mistakes was such that we were soon able to detect 

 them. As a rule, the blunders we have made in names and numbers were 

 with the scions received from the Department of Agriculture and from 

 amateur growers of varieties from this source. 



We commenced the work of propagation with a view to a general test- 

 ing over great areas by intelligent amateurs, who were willing to aid in 

 the work and report results without prejudice. The twelve years, during 

 which this methodic trial has been going on, have been peculiarly trying 

 ones. We have been able to reach conclusions as to hardiness, exemp- 

 tion from blight, habits of bearing, etc., far more rapidly than possible 

 during a more favorable succession of seasons. 



' A summarized report, made up from our experimental ledger, would 

 alone do justice to the title selected for this paper. As this cannot be 

 done, we will comment on a few varieties of orchard fruits which have 

 attracted special attention over great areas of the West and North. That 

 the report is only partial, every one who has tested a few of the Russian 

 varieties will be able to testify, as we will leave out the varit^ties, in 

 whole or in part, with which they have been most favorably impressed. 

 Even the bulletin of the Horticultural Department for 1892, now in press, 



