346 ANNUAL REPORT. 



root and crown grafts, worked on one and two year old seedlings, 

 and set a stake to each to mark its location. The stand was good 

 except where the ground was hot from the burning of brush and 

 logs. And so good the growth and so soon into bearing that if ever 

 I was going to set another orchard I would prefer root-grafts to 

 three year old trees, as they would be about as large in five years 

 as the three year olds, and no black-hearts from the back-set of 

 transplanting, as is often the case with large trees. From this or- 

 chard we have gathered two crops of apples, about eight bushels 

 each, aside from what was stolen. The apples were cut and seed 

 planted, and from these we have now a good stand of one 

 year old trees, which will be ready for delivery in two years 

 morj. And then the Regents of the State University will 

 say what disposition will be made of them. 1 grow the seedlings 

 until three years old, then select such as bid fair to produce good 

 fruit, and send out as directed by the Regents. • 



The experimental orchard is for the growing of seeds, from which 

 to grow new varieties that will stand our climate, and of best possi- 

 ble quality — mainly long keepers, and the way we expect to do it 

 is by cross fertilization of such long keepers as we can make stand 

 long enough to produce one crop or more, with our most hardy, such 

 as we term iron-clads. This cross-fertilization is done when in 

 bloom, by the flow of pollen from the bloom of one variety into 

 that of another, thus causing the seed of the apple that comes oni 

 that impregnated bloom to produce a variety differing to a greater 

 or less extent from any variety in the orchard. With us no two seeds 

 from the same apple ever produced fruit or trees exactly alike, so 

 varied are the degrees of crossing; even in the same bloom, no two 

 stamens are fertilized exactly alike, therefore no two seeds will pro- 

 duce alike, for each seed has its own stamen. 



And to make the crops more certain we plant the trees close 

 together, about eight feet in the row, and the rows twelve feet 

 apart, and every alternate tree a long keeper, the iron-clads be- 

 tween, thus making it easy and sure for a natural flow of pollen to 

 fertilize each bloom to a greater or less extent, and then to save 

 the seed from the long keeper, we are sure of some seedlings that 

 in hardiness of tree will partake of the iron-clads, but in time of 

 ripening the seedling will follow the parent apple from which the 

 seed was taken. Such at least, are facts so far as our experimen- 

 tations have developed, and we have had about a thousand seed- 

 lings in bearing, and only in three instances have they varied over 

 three weeks ia time of ripening from the parent apple from which 



