STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. TT 
At our winter meeting in Winona in 1876 I made the remark that I was 
skeptical in regard to finding winter fruits that originated as far north as. 
St. Petersburg, and now, after four years more experience of my own with 
many of these new Russian varieties, and after gathering what information 
I could, as one of your committee, Iam not prepared to retract anything 
said at that meeting on this subject. There isa greater difference in longi- 
tude than in Jatitude between St. Petersburg and this place. The Russian 
empire extends south to near latitude forty-one, some four degrees south of 
Minneapolis. Now the point I would like to hear discussed is, whether a 
variety of fruit that originated four degrees south of this, on the southern 
border of the Russian empire, and then brought here, would mature earlier 
or later, knowing as we do that there is a vast differenee in the longitude 
of the two places. I think you will justify me in dwelling at some length 
upon the season, or time of maturing of these new Russian varieties, owing 
to the fact that nearly all of them are likely to prove to be summer fruits, 
and in conseqnence we Shall be pretty sure to be overstocked with summer 
apples. Some of the strong advocates of foreign varieties tell us that it 
will take several hundred years to get as many hardy varieties from seed- 
lings as they now have in Russia. To allthis I have just this to say: Ist. 
We do not need or desire so many varieties. 2d. Judging from the past his- 
tory of the progress in native seedlings in the New England States and the 
rapid advance made in the State during the last twenty years, it will not be 
over a score of years, at the most, before we shall settle down on as many 
varieties as any reasonable man could wish, and as hardy, as good in quality 
and in every way more desirable than anything possible to be obtained from 
foreign countries. Itis becoming a well established fact, that our new 
Russian varieties, as a rule, blossom earlier than our native seedlings, and 
therefore suffer more from late frosts. 
After completing my report, as I supposed, and just as I was about leav- 
ing for this place, I was handed a descriptive list of thirty-two new Russian 
varieties from a friend in Vermont, and as it is too lengthy to embody in 
this report, I will merely add that it contains twenty-seven summer and 
fall varieties, three late fall or early winter and two winter. One of the 
winter varieties, Barsdorf, which is probably a German fruit, as Downing 
describes a German fruit by that name. ‘The other is the English Pippin, 
whose name would indicate that it was of European origin. One of the 
late fall or early winter is called Green Crimea, whose name indicates 
that it was produced on an island in the Black Sea called Crimea, and on 
about this latitude. I will give our friends description of this fruit and 
close, viz.: Green, conical apple, of medium size, keeps into December, and 
is the meanest tasting apple, without exception, that I ever bit. 
Very respectfully submitted. 
A. M. SIAS. 
Mr. A. W. Latham, of Excelsior, was not present and forwarded 
no statement. 
