ways north of here that are
good. As it is now we are really looking in this southern part of the
country for keeping apples.

I should think if we could get these new varieties of seedlings that are
keeping well introduced into the Fruit-Breeding Farm and let Supt.
Haralson handle them under number and send them off to the north of us a
good ways, we could have them tested. Those that have exhibited these
new seedlings and got premiums for them, they ought to be a little more
free to get them in some shape so that they will be tested and we will
learn their worth. They have their premiums, they got those simply
because they are good keepers. Well, now, that isn't anything in their
favor for Minnesota planting, not very much. Of course, good keepers,
that is a good thing, good quality is another thing, but the first thing
is hardiness, and the people who have been drawing these premiums have
been seemingly backward in getting them in shape to test. They are
afraid to put them out for fear somebody might steal them, but if Mr.
Haralson had the handling of them under number nobody could steal them.
You have got title to them and control them just as well as when you
keep them right on your place where they haven't a chance to show
whether they are hardy or not. There is the weak point in this seedling
business for Minnesota, I think.

But the apple orchards of Minnesota, if you are not all getting the good
results that you want from your orchards, if you are not all getting a
full crop, what is the reason? The last year and this year we have
failed of getting a good crop of apples or almost any crop, whereas
before, ever since the old orchard was planted in 1878, why, we have
regarded the apple crop as really a very much surer crop than almost any
of the farm crops, but the last two years we have failed to get a crop.

I attribute the poor crop a year ago to such an excessive crop as we had
the year before that. Two years ago everything was loaded, breaking
down, because we didn't thin them as we ought to, and we could hardly
expect very much the next year. This last year, you know we had frosts
quite frequent up to about the 10th of June, I think that was the reason
we had such a failure this year. Our own orchard is on ground that is
about 225 feet above Faribault, so we have got air drainage, and we
would expect to escape frosts on that account and have as good a crop as
anybody else would in that neighborhood. But