STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 385 



grass, that can be grown in the soil and climate of Minnesota, and all the breeds of 

 domestic animals of value to our State. That is what we expect to do. In many 

 lines of work we have already made a beginning. I suppose you remember the 

 fine exhibit Minnesota made at New Orleans, at the World's Exposition. 



I may state that nineteen-twentieths of that agricultural exhibit was raised on 

 the experimental farm, and every single article that was put on exhibition at the 

 last State fair under my charge was raised on that farm, and its exhibit there of 

 grain, grasses and vegetables I can duplicate fifty times to-day by going to the 

 stacks and bins and taking it out; so that we congratulate ourselves that we are 

 doing some work in that line. 



Now you ask what are we doing for Horticulture on the Experimental Farm? We 

 have made a beginning. 



Our vineyard is planted on a hillside with an eastern exposure. It contains the 

 following varieties: 



Agawam, Brighton, Concord, Delaware, Empire State, Goethe, Hartford Prolific, 

 lona, Ive's Seedling, Janesville, Lady, Lindley, Martha, Merrimac, Moore's Early, 

 Niagara, Pocklinglon, Prentiss, Salem, Wilder, Worden. Of these the Niagara and 

 Empire State were planted last year. The Niagara made splendid canes. Of the 

 Empire State but six lived of the ten set. Excepting the Concord, there were but 

 ten vines planted of each variety, the object being to test their relative merits, 

 under identical conditions of exposure, soil, culture and pruning. All have grown 

 well but lona — which has been discarded. A little fruit has been borne the past 

 season, but next year will bring, I hope, a good crop. 



With apples a fair start has been made. I have been in correspondence with 

 Prof. Budd ever since his return from Russia and learned from him the best results 

 of hi3 work. You know that the object of Prof. Budd and Mr. Gibb in going to 

 Russia was not alone to secure pew varieties. Their primary motive was to cor- 

 rect the nomenclature of the Washington importations — these had been received 

 from many sources and had been duplicated under different names; the whole list 

 was in confusion, and the visit of these distinguished horticulturists has resulted 

 in a thorough revision and correction of that tangled work. 



Their visit was of great value also in determining the behavior of these trees in 

 their own home; not among the least of its results, let us hope, was the additional 

 varieties they discovered and imported. 



Besides fifty-eight varieties, one, and small two-year old trees, I secured from 

 Professor Budd almost an entire duplicate of his extensive collection of Russian 

 apples, numbering about two hundred and twenty-five varieties. These latter were 

 graf IS made late in March, from cions that were cut from the trees at the time the 

 grafts were made. That is to say, we found in Prof. Budd's collection about 225 

 varieties that, after the severe winter of 1884-5, and after being grafted so late as 

 the last days of March, were yet of such vitality that but one variety in the whole 

 list was lost — and of that variety but three grafts were secured. This we regarded 

 as a remarkable indication of hardiness. From three to one hundred grafts were 

 obtained of each variety — averaging not more than twenty of a kind. These were 

 planted in a sheltered situation and given thorough cultivation till about the middle 

 of July, after which they received no cultivation save an occasional "scalping" of 

 winds. 

 25 



