St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-01-21
Proceedings of the Second Day of the
Convention Of the State Fruit
Cultivators.
Reports on the Culture Of the Apple, a:
Observed by Practical Ex-.
peTimeuters.
six Kinds OF Apples VIII
Thrive Here.
Effects OF Winters on the Growth
and Propagation OF Trees
and Vines.
OUR FRUIT GROWERS.

. O'Clock yesterday morning. John ). Har-
ris Of La Crescent, from the committee on
seedlings, read his report for the year 1885.
The report acknowledged that the varieties
of apples under consideration at present
does not fill the bill.
We dare not recommend for general cultiva-
ton any Eastern grown trees, save the Duchess
OF Oidenburgh, TetOfsky. a few other Russian
varieties. the West Liberians and their seed
ling, Gideons Wealthy. Among the new
varieties that are being introduced there are
likely some that will prove hardy and that
will produce valuable fruit but they cannot
be expected 10 come up TO the American
standard of excellence, or to prove perfectly
adapted TO growing in ai situations and To-
calities.
High cultivation, careful selection, cross
fertilization and successive planting of the
best has been the method by which the
greNtest success has been attained In the i'm
prOvement OF ali kinds of fruits. vegetables
and grains We may ye; have a list of apples
that will enable US TO compete with any part
OF the world. and l see no reason why the
geologist may not indulge his fancy with the
belief that his IDEAL OF excellence will be
reached. and that Minnesota will stand out
foremost among the apple-growing states.
To me IL seems apparent that seed selected
from young trees that are healthy and under
high state of cultivation. and when they
are likely TO have been fortified by other
sorts, having desirable qualities I'm hardness
or long keeping, there will be a stronger tend
ency 10 sprout into varieties of marked char
acter that will make "A radical improvement
over planting seeds promiscuously, ana with
no end in view.
FROM CARVER COUNTY.
Charles LuedlOff reported from Carver
county. He said that 10 winter had been
SO severe on fruit trees as the last one
Apple and pear trees were killed. Top
grating had been tried and proved fail
ure. The apples which withStOOd the win
ter best were the OStTakOff, Russian Green,
Siberia, Kerski. Arcade, etc.
+. W. Gaylord of Iowa read a paper on
seedlings. He gave the society the benefit
of his many years experience ano gave
valuable suggestions relative TO selecting a
site for the orchard. He advocated setting
out the best native apple we have of rea-
/ SOnable hardness and of bookkeeping quail
tiles. The next, select the best lOng-keep-
ing Russian, next the best known hardy
! hybred. He then gave his idea of cross
breeding 10 secure an apple that can with
stand the climate. He thought that bees
were of a benefit in mixing the palm.
| When the fruit is ripe the seeds should be
saved from each apartment and sent as far
north as Minneapolis to be grown and cared
for properly. BY doing this il would be
learned which of the varieties would sur
yiye the winters.
RUSSIAN APPLES.
A. w. Sias of Rochester read a paper on
Russian apples. Ii was i'm the form of a
report upon his success i'm the culture of the
apples. and of their withstanding the rigors
of Minnesota winters. He said:
The past severe winter was used TO thor
oughly test the many new varieties of tho
Russian apple lately introduced. They were
subjected to the ordeal of So below zero,
and came out in good condition, with but few
exceptions The latest formation of cells on
the new wood was found in the fall to be well
hardened up with starch or mucilage, while
many of the native sorts were spOngy and
full of sap. The Ans family have proven
themselves 10 be wonderfully hardy. / hope
IL will prove just what we want for winter
fruit One of the greatest objections TO the
Russian varieties is thar there are so few
good keeping among them. did have some
faith I'm the red-block that exhibited here a
year ago, but. alas! so was too much for il
and IL is now in good shape for kndling wood.
CThis was Iop-worked on the Hirst op crab.
have few small trees, four 10 FIVE feet,
that came through the winter all right
root CRAFTS. The Langfield was also
pretty badly injured. Ii failed to
ripen up in time last fall.
Charles Glib of Canada pronounces what
j call the Russian Green, true Avis.
This has proven TO be very hardy and most
excellent in quality. Sidney Corp, one of the
most successful horticulturists of Wabash
county, speaks in high terms of Autumn
Streaked aud an unknown Russian, bearing
fruit similar in appearance 10 the TetofSky.
but will keep perhaps ten days longer. The
yellow Avis also looks well with him.
The Russian apple is only completely
adapted to q similar climate from which it
came, and that is supposed to be Minnesota.
Planters should know the origin of every
tree they purchase and study its adaptation
! to their particular soil and climate.
WILD FRUITS.
Third-Short years are too quickly passed for
the horticulturist of our district to think of
running ahead of Dame Nature. Were IL
possible TO give the real value of the wild
| fruits of this district in dollars and cents,
! and also the value of all cultivated sorts, IL
would no doubt astonish you TO note the bal
ance in favor of the wildings. The wild plum
/ crop last year was immense, and many fine
varieties among them. Some day we hope to
/ produce from the seed native plum that
/ shall astonish the horticultural world. Some
| OF the best known sorts are the De SOTO, Roll
/ ingstone, Cotterell, W aldron, Weon, Wild Rose,
! etc.
The wild strawberry crop has been inn
mense, also the gooseberry, high-bush cram
berry and elderberries. The BURBERRY Is
found here, but only i'm limited quantities.
/ As far as | know no pears were grown in my
/ district the past season. We had a splendid
/ crop of plums, but a poor crop of cherries.
| Our grapes were fine. The leading varieties
| grown were: Concord, worden, Junesville,
! D elaware and Rogers Seeding.
BLACKBERRIEs.
We believe that the question of raising
blackberries has been settled for all time.
/ No one expects to raise a good crop of straw
| berries without covering the plants in the
/ fall. and the blackberry must be treated in
/ the same way. The delicious blackberry will
soon be as plentiful in our markets as the
| strawberry. The best varieties are the An
clent Briton, Snyder, Hoag's Seeding and
/ the Mammoth Dudberry.
The strawberry crop was very fine and
prices have been good, and our farmers are
encouraged and will enlarge their beds in the
spring. The irrepressible Crescent Seeding
i still leads the van. IL not only chokes out
| grass, but chokes OF all new aspirants for
unearned honors. Dawne's prolific is still
/ popular. The Sharpless is the largest and
the Cumberland is hard to beat.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
Prof A. B. Seymour OF the Wisconsin
state university OF Madison gave lecture
on Fungus Diseases of Small Fruits, Illus
trated with charts. He said that heavy
fruiting of strawberry plants had much TO
do with the diseases. As with man when
he is oyerworked and weakened thereby,
he is more susceptible to diseases. The
structure of the fungus consists of slender
threads which are fastened to the leaves of
the plant. One form of fungus will not
live over a winter. The form which sur
wives a winter is the black variety. The
yellow spores do not carry their fungus over
/ winter Melching with straw always helps
in preventing the destruction of the fungus
disease. The Manchester and Great Amer
lean are peculiarly susceptible.
The professor then turned the attention
/ L.. 49, 80, 10 4