STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 87 



reports of cold this winter in localities only a few miles apart. 

 In La Crosse, two miles from me, 38° to 40° below; at Galesville, 

 30 miles, 54° below; at other places 40° to 49°. Have we any 

 kind of standard apple except Duchess, and some seedlings which 

 have stood for 30 years, that will stand 54° below? Time will tell. 



Now, about fruit. Last year the Duchess in some orchards 

 bore heavy crops of fair, large apples, while in other orchards 

 only a few miles away it was entirely ruined by the apple gouger; 

 this and the codling moth are, in my opinion, the great enemies 

 to successful apple-growing, with such hardy trees as Duchess 

 and some seedlings which are coming to the front, in the North- 

 west ; the Wealthy is not one of them, however. This tree I 

 believe in for these reasons: Its early and great bearing, good 

 quality and good keeping. I keep setting it every year; it will 

 bear a few crops and die. To class it with Duchess for hardi- 

 ness is all bosh. 



The apple crop last year was what might be called a good one; 

 the following kinds bore heavy crops: Wealthy, Utter, Fa- 

 meuse, Haas, St. Lawrence. I saw a few trees of Golden and 

 Perry Eusset bearing so heavily and such nice fruit that I al- 

 most regretted that I had condemned both years ago. Whitney 

 and most of the crabs bore well, except the Transcendent, which 

 was nearly a failure. All were badly worm eaten. 



Small fruits, such as strawberries, grapes and raspberries, such 

 as Turner and Gregg, were fair crops; the raspberries, too, without 

 protection; Cuthbert nearly a failure; blackberries the same; De 

 Soto and other wild plums, with me, blossomed full, but the fruit 

 nearly all dropped when quite small. What is the cause? Mr. 

 Peffer says that they need a fertilizer the same as the strawberry. 

 I attribute it to frost. A hailstorm in July nearly ruined my 

 grapes and injured my apples very much. E. Wilcox. 



Mr. Harris. I would like to make one observation in regard 

 to the location of Mr. Wilcox's nursery, as regards his plum 

 orchard. He has a northern slope; his trees were full of blos- 

 soms, and before the plums were half grown there was hardly 

 one left on the trees, and I cannot account for it. I only visited 

 his place once this past season. I have been there when his trees 

 were in blossom and looked like a sheet, and then in mid-sum- 

 mer there was nothing on them. He attributes it to the effects 

 of the sun or to the frost, I believe. Mr. Peffer went out and 

 looked at them and he thought they didn't fertilize themselves; 

 but I am certain he has ten or a dozen varieties. 



