92 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
mention allofthem. As farasI have noticed, the Wealthy, Duchess 
and Minnesota have done well inthis county both with and without 
being protected by groves, on high ground and low, but not on wet 
ground. They seem to do the best when cultivated while small and 
seeded down when older. 
One man mulches about three inches deep with strawy manure; 
the grass grows up through the mulching, and he gets a crop of 
apples every year. 
One fact that I especially wish to call attention to is that with the 
most of these trees the body is well protected from the sun by the 
top. No need to put up boards or wrap the body with cloth or paper 
to keep from sun scald; the shade of the top is sufficient. 
The men who have raised apples in this county have been mostly 
farmers and have been too busy with farm work to prune apple 
trees. One man who has not had much faith in years past in fruit 
will set out 1500 apple trees in the spring. 
APPLES. 
CHAS. LUEDLOFF, CARVER. 
As a member of the committee on “Apples” I take notice below of 
such kinds of apples as have done best on my place, showing “blight- 
proof” for many years past, as my place is so located that many 
kinds get affected with blight. I don’tknow how many hundreds I 
have had for experiment, and from them all only those noted below 
ware left free from blight. About my place as an experiment station 
for apples I must state first: The ground is low, with rich, black 
soil, sheltered around by high timber. You see this is not favorable 
for all kinds of apples. I think it is good advice to beginners in 
raising apples to begin with such sorts as are blight-proof—and they 
all are more likely to be when planted on high, dry ground witha 
free circulation of air; and where the ground is sloping somewhat 
to north it is always the best location for an apple orchard. 
The blight is one of the greatest enemies in holding us back from 
raising apples. Some pomologists claim that spraying with the 
Bordeaux mixture is the only preventative; and I have good reason 
to believe it, because I kept my potatoes by spraying through the 
last two summers with Bordeaux mixture green to the time frost 
killed them, and splendid potatoes, too. Last summer, it may be, 
spraying helped some, but still the drouth was too great, and the 
vines died off earlier on that account. I think we have good hope 
in spraying all fruit trees early in the season with Bordeaux mix- 
ture to prevent blight. 
Some persons believe that blight is contagious to the neighboring 
trees, but I have not found it so in the four following cases, viz: 
First, a European birch (Betula alba) stands east from a building; 
ten feet east from it stands a plum tree with some new plum grafts; 
the north side of this tree was sheltered by buildings; so this tree 
had a very warm place. The sun struck this tree most from one to 
two o’clock. -One day both trees were affected by blight; a few days 
