The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1886-01-28
1'IIE FRUIT OUTLOOK.

BY request tie ADVANCE reprints
the following letter, which may be of
interest to fruit growers hereabouts:
EXCELSIOR, Mimi, Dec. 5, 1SS5.-TO
the editor Ut tire Farmers Tribune:
Perhaps few items on the apple Ques-
ton would be Of interest to some OF
your readers, seeing the extent Of last
winters luin is now fully developed.
In travelling through Wisconsin,
Iowa aud southern Minnesota, it was
sickehing to behold the rain of or
ci.ards, and but few live trees that
showed health. In all my journeying,
the best, and might SLY the only good
show of live trees. was at &. &. Pat
tens, Charles City. Iowa. With great
care i:e has been growing new seed
lings and with grand success. Trees
strong III growth, and as perfect in
health as if they had never seen a win
ter, and with death or dying of iron
clads all around them. His grounds
TEEN with Russians, only three or four
varieties showed health, aud not half
so large of same age as the new seed
Hngs, and but few samples of fruit on
any of the Russians, whilst the seed
lings bore so profuse that some of them
had to he propped up. Central Iowa
aud the whole northwest owes him a
debt of thanks that they should not be
slow to bestow the adequate reward
We, too, have fine showing of new
seedlings that went through the last
winter, and gave IL fair crop the fall
just past. So fine that l was awarded
silver medal for my exhibition at the
American Pathological meeting held at
Grand Rapids, Mich, in September.
Certain the ruin is damper on or
chardists, but they should bear 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 ap-
proach to the last winter is not likely
to occur inside of ten or fourteen years,
which gives the planter that sets i'm
mediately an almost certain assurance
of a rich harvest Of many years of
fruit, whether he sets the old ironclads
(the Wealthy and Duchess) or the more
hardy new ones. Any of which will
give a larger profit per acre in ten
years-counting from day of planting
than any farm crop that can be grown.
1t is folly for anyone to yield up such
luxuries ut one rebuff, the like of which
never occurred before and which is not
likely to occur again very soon. con-
slider the Wealthy and Duchess safe to
plant and too good to cast aside. though
we have others of equal worth and
harder of later origin.
And now that we have good col
lection that withstood the last winter
with but little damage, and IN season
from August till March, and that col
lection 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 wide belt and stretching south
east to Columbus. o., and how much
further l am not informed. Yet nc
enc in Ohio, Indiana or Illinois doubts
their 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 az to why the
last winter was harder on trees thar
other winters of as great extremes O1
cold? Our theory is, that a warm cur
rent OF air came from the southwest
late in the fall that started the sap 81
that trees in warm soils and situation.
were in bloom-ours were just opening
their bloom buds when winter set in
consequently any tree that could moi
stand it to be hard frozen in full sa,
flow had to die. On cold thin clay sol
trees suffered least. And in furthe
proof OF our theory Of dead trees, is tn
fact that throughout Michigan and o,
eastward and northeast trees cam,
through all right, whilst the same va
riettes were killed in states furthe
south, where the extreme of cold wa
not 50 great. Therefore, say to on
and all, take courage. reset and q
ahead, the ordeal is past.
PETER M. GIDEON.