STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 161 



"Mr. J. S. Harris, yours of late date at hand, in reply, would say that 

 my whole orchard or Seedlings and all that ever bore are dead, except 

 the Duchess and a few Wealthy, and they are badly injured, and made 

 no visible growth the past year. I think all the crabs are badly injured 

 but not killed. The bark was severed from the wood on all standard 

 varieties; the sap started too soon in March and then froze which is 

 the sole cause of all trouble. 



S. Bates." 



Mr. Forster writes me as follows : 



"Chatfield, Minn., Jan. 12, 1886. 

 Mr. Harris: 



Dear Sir. I received a card from you wishing to know about my 

 apple trees. Well, my seedlings are killed and so is the Wealthy with 

 me, and about everything else except the Duchess. I do not know of 

 anyone that has any hardy seedling apples. It has been the hardest 

 blow for apples I ever saw and I think we are liable to have a winter 

 every few years that will take our best winter apples; so I don't think 

 it will pay me to belong to the Horticultural Society. 



Yours Respectfully, 



Wm. Forster." 



That is about the tone of answers I have been able to get on seed- 

 lings. If I had had more funds I should have visited Mr. Gideon's 

 place at Excelsior, and some orchards in Martin County. 



We have made very little progress in the raising of seedling apples. 

 We must take seeds from the very hardiest varieties and plant them; 

 those seeds must be raised in our climate and in our soil, and then we 

 must select the best fruit from these seedlings, and the seeds from 

 these again must be replanted, in order to get just what we want. 

 But, in the mean time, as I said last night, there is a great boon com- 

 Ag to us in these Russian apples. Just as we accept the foreigner and 

 recognize him as our fellow citizen, so we will accept these Russian 

 apples as "good citizens" now, and future generations will bring out 

 the fruit that will show the good effects of our soil and climate. I 

 believe the day is coming when Minnesota apples will be sent to 

 Europe, and to the eastern cities. I hardly expect to live to see that 

 day, but if the State Horticultural Society will keep on in its efforts; 

 if it will not become discouraged by such failures as has been 

 occasioned by the last winter; if we can keep our courage and look 

 11 



