306 ANNUAL REPORT. 



seemingly conflicting opinions regarding the merits of varieties, 

 and it is unfortunate that these considerations are not better un- 

 derstood and recognized. When a young grape vine loses its 

 foliage by midsummer, and the green shoots remain unmatured 

 till frost, that variety might as vsrell be discarded at once; no known 

 methods of pruning, fertilizing, or care in cultivation will help it. 

 The only known remedy is shelter, arranged so as to arrest radia- 

 tion of heat from the foliage during nights. 



Among the more recently introduced varieties, the Bacchus, Lady, 

 Pocklington, Moore's Early, and Noah will probably succeed well 

 wherever the season is long enough to ripen the fruit. Brighton, 

 Duchess, and Prentiss will require specially favorable localities for 

 their perfection. Thus it is that the best flavored and most desira- 

 ble varieties are not always the most reliable. 



APPLES. 



The discussion on apples was mostly confined to varieties of little 

 account in the Northwest. A call being made for a report on the 

 Minnesota collection, 



Oliver Gibbs, Jr., of Minnesota said: I can gratify my own con- 

 stituents, and perhaps add a little to the stock of knowledge here by 

 a few remarks about the three varieties of apples, samples of which 

 I show you here on these plates. 



Vice President Berckmans, of Georgia. We shall be very glad 

 to hear about them. 



Secretary Beal, of Michigan. Yes, and we want to hear more 

 and more from Minnesota. 



Oliver Gibbs, Jr. You all know the Duchess of Oldenburg. It 

 is a universal success in the North, and doing better in the North- 

 west than anywhere else. You have seen it in the Minnesota col- 

 lection and admired its beauty. 



But here is the Wealthy, a seedling of our own, which is said to 

 be worth a million of dollars to our State, and this I wish to give a 

 little more prominence on your records. The specimens here do 

 not show the beautiful color and finish that belong to the Wealthy 

 as they wanted a few weeks' more growth and sunshine to. mature 

 them. When ripe the Wealthy is a bright red, with usually a deli- 

 cate light blush on one side. You see its size is medium to large, 

 and its shape is just perfect. With us an ill-shaped or ill-looking 

 Wealthy is never seen, and we have already hundreds of bushels 

 in single orchards. These samples were picked from an orchard of 



