122 ANNUAL KEPORT. 



should liave seen long ago. You say you did, but how could you have helped this 

 since this was your only choice? This you say, you had to accept or remain idle, 

 and who, in all this Northwest ever saw an idle or lazy horticulturist? Such con- 

 ditiens are not in the nature of his surroundings. If any set of men have ever 

 followed the old moth to try, try again, it has been the orchardists of our North- 

 west. But his misspent energies and wasted means have brought him to penury 

 and want. He has been forced to fall back on his resources and use the most rigid 

 economy, or take to other callings. Noone need envy the wealth any orchardLst 

 has gained in the Northwest. We would deem it no more than an act of justice 

 should the State of Minnesota exempt from taxes each forty acres which shows 

 five acres of orchard property set and cared for during the next five years. The 

 State should take the matter in hand of experimenting and growing new varieties 

 of apples, plums and other fruit. This play of chance should be played out. It 

 has wrought the ruin of many of our best citizens. We have been lo, these many 

 years striving to procure valuable kinds for the Northwest by planting seeds from 

 such tender varieties as have not had the least shadow of a chance for success. We 

 have tried long enough to get the kind of blood we so much need to make orchard- 

 ing a success in the Northwest. We have not once stopped to reflect or reason on 

 what we were doing or how we were doing. Like children we have been playing 

 blind man's buff, catching at this and guessing at that. We advised many years ago 

 to grow no trees for the Northwest except from seed grown in Minnesota. Had this 

 course been jjursued we should at least have had more hardy kinds than we now 

 have and much superior in value. To be convinced that we were pointing towards 

 a more direct road to success, you only need to examine the results of the well 

 directed labors of C. G. Patten of Charles City, Iowa, who took up this same train 

 of reasoning someyearsago and wentt) work with a well defint.d object in view. 

 He selected seeds from the best hardy kinds grown there, and now he has a show 

 of fruit and hardy trees that will surprise any orchardist in the Northwest. Some 

 of his trees are heavy bearers, good in quality and perfect models of trees as to 

 hardiness. The contrast they show, surrounded as they are by all of our old stand- 

 ard varieties which scarcely have life sufficient to leaf out the coming spring, is 

 truly worthy of a personal inspection b}' any interested in growing new varieties 

 from seed. 



Apple trees grown from seed grown as far north as Minneapolis, would give us 

 a good chance from which to select such hardy stock as are at least one degree 

 more hardy than the Duchess, and on such stock we could grow with reasonable 

 success such choice varieties as have been grown on their own stems as far south as 

 the center of Iowa. This course would advance your chances of success at least 

 twenty per cent beyond any other direct way now known. Many individuals have 

 been pursuing this course the past few years with marked success. But bear in 

 mind the stem and root must be extremely hardy to make a success of this plan. 

 The Wealthy in northern Iowa top worked on crab stock have borne us a good crop 

 this season, while on their own stems very many have failed entirely with only 

 now and then a tree on its own stem that has borne any more than to keep up the 

 credit of the tree. Here we come to a full stop and (inrl ourselves switched off on 

 a side track with little other show than to remain, except taking to the long circuit- 

 ous route which would take us through centuries of labor in acclimating the more 



