STATE lIOIiTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 411 



all around them. His grounds teem with Russians; only three or four 

 varieties showed health, and not half so large of same age as the new 

 seedlings, and but few samples of fruit on any of the Russians, whilst 

 the seedlings bore so profusely that some of them had to be propped up. 

 Central Iowa and the whole northwest owe him a debt of thanks and 

 they should not be slow to bestqw the adequate reward. Certainly he 

 is worthy of patronage; he has a fine stock of trees, and is a fair and 

 honorable dealer. 



We, too, have a fine showing of new seedlings that went through 

 the last winter, and gave a fair crop the fall just past. So fine that I 

 was awarded a silver medal for my exhibition at the American Pomo- 

 logical meeting at Grand Rapids, Michigan, in September. 



Surely the ruin is a damper on orchardists, but they should not have 

 in mind that fact, that the old ironclads had to succumb. We have 

 other new ones that withstood the wreck — the hardest winter ever 

 known in America, and the like may not occur again in the next 100 

 years, if ever. And even an approach to the last winter is not likely 

 to occur inside of ten or fourteen years, which gives the planter that 

 sets immediately an almost certain assurance of a rich harvest of many 

 years of fruit, whether he sets the old iron-clads (the Wealthy and 

 Duchess) or the more hardy new ones. Any of which will give a lar- 

 ger profit per acre in ten years — count from day of planting — than any 

 farm crop that can be grown. 



It is folly for anyone to yield up such luxuries at one rebufi", the like 

 of which never occurred before and not likely to again very soon. I 

 consider the Wealthy and Duchess safe to plant and too good to cast 

 aside, though we have others of equal worth and hardier of later 

 origin. ^ 



And now that we have a good collection that withstood the last win- 

 ter with but little damage, and in season from Aug. 1 till March, and 

 that collection yearly growing larger, none need despair of the future 

 apple crop in the northwest. The ruin of trees is not confined to the 

 northwest alone, but in a wide belt and stretching southeast to Colum- 

 bus, 0., and how much further I am not informed. Yet no one in 

 Ohio, Indiana or Illinois doubts his ability to grow fruit there, and 

 will reset and grow with profit the same varieties that were just killed 

 out, and with our more hardy varieties our chances are full better than 

 theirs. 



But some may query as to why the last winter was harder on trees 

 than other winters of as great extremes of cold? Our theory is, that a 



