DEVELOPING HARDY FRUITS. 83 



The Cliainnaii — Gentlemen, you have heard the valuable paper by 

 Mr. Green. Is there any discussion about it? 



Dr. Hansen — Mr. Chairman, I might say that in the work of com- 

 bining the size of fruit of the Japanese plum with a native plum, we have 

 made great progress. We had one this year that is excellent in qualities. 

 It is as good as any plum we have ever eaten. As to the strawberry, we 

 have been working a combination of native and wild strawberries with the 

 best cultivated varieties. We have had fully ten thousand seedlings in 

 that work and we have a great many varieties saved out of that vast 

 lot — possibly over two hundred varieties — that we are working with 

 still further, so that we have been able to secure strawberries in 'large 

 numbers, that endure forty degrees below zero in winter. That is the 

 test as to the hardiness. We never cover the strawberries. With the 

 raspberry, we find in every respect the seedlings of all eastern varieties 

 utterly failed, but the hybrids are perfectly hardy without any winter pro- 

 tection. Seven thousand seedlings have borne fruit and we have some ex- 

 cellent varieties and others coming on. Out of these seven thousand we 

 expect the raspberry to be settled. We hope so at least. We have been 

 working very successfully in that line, and I am pleased to see that 

 work will be pushed in other States as well. It is certainly true that the 

 only way we can get hardiness into our tender fruit is by crossing with 

 species that are already hardy. 



The Chairman — Yes, it would seem to resolve itself upon that point; 

 our motto is, as in the Society of American Florists, "The art itself is 

 nature." We assist nature, and I believe it resolves itself entirely upon 

 that ; we have to assist nature. We have to take the things we find at 

 our hand, and with those do somethmg. That seems to be the whole 

 experience of everybody. You find your hardiest strawberries, and you 

 take the better quality of strawberry, and cross. 



Mr. Macoun — Mr. Chairman, this was brought out in ]\Ir. Green's 

 paper, what they are working for in the northwest, Minnesota, Wisconsin 

 and the Dakotas. That is, Minnesota and Wisconsin particularly, which 

 is the country of winter apples, they are working for a winter apple which 

 will be good in quality and hardiness and will be productive, and they 

 have offered one thousand dollars to the person who will bring forward 

 a winter apple which will fulfil certain rules they have laid down, namely, 

 that it will be perfectly hardy and productive, etc., and they have not 

 got anyone yet to take the reward. We have been studying the situation 

 a good deal at Ottawa, and have found certain facts in connection with 

 the hardiness of trees, which we consider principles, which we are work- 

 ing on. In the first place, we find it is absolutely necessary to have an 

 early maturing tree in order to get hardiness, and then we find in nearly 

 every case, an early maturing tree means early maturing fruit, that is, 

 fruit which ripens in the summer or autumn, which, of course, we do 

 not want for a winter apple, but we find there are varieties which begin 

 to mellow about November or early September, but which will hold up 



