The foregoing considerations probably furnish the reason for the widely differing reports secured on the blanks distributed, and which were quite generally answered.  This prompts the suggestion that before planting commercially or on a large scale one should personally conduct a series of experiments on land designed for use to test its adaptability for the fruits intended.

We suffered a frost and hard freeze on the 18th day of May which greatly damaged the fruit buds; the temperature registered on that day at the United States Weather Office being 27 deg.  The month of June was the coolest in forty-five years.  The low temperature of the summer months and lack of sunshine resulted in a tardy development of fall fruits and a failure to mature them.  Even the Beta grape and the Compass cherry did not ripen their fruit.  The Opata plum, however, bore a large crop of ripe plums early in September.

Very little blight has been reported.

The weather report shows a deficiency of precipitation up to December 1 of 3.81 inches.  However, the heavy rains in November immediately before the ground froze supplied sufficient moisture to enable trees and shrubs to stand the winter.

The following list is suggested by the reports: 

Apples:  Duchess, Okabena, Wealthy, Patten’s Greening.

Crab Apples:  Florence, Early Strawberry, Virginia.

Plums:  Cheney, Aitkin, Compass, Opata.

Grape:  Beta.

Cherries:  Reports generally unfavorable.

Blackberries:  No kinds reported favorably.

Raspberry:  Minnetonka Ironclad, King, Cuthbert, Older.

Strawberries:  Dunlap; Everbearing—­Progressive and Superb.

Currants:  Red Dutch, Perfection, Wilder, White Grape.

Gooseberries:  Carrie, Houghton, Downing.

Hardy Perennial Flowers:  Peonies, Phlox, Sweet William, Delphinium,
Canterbury Bells, Foxglove, Oriental Poppies, Iceland Poppies.

Hardy Shrubs:  Snowball, Hydrangea, Lilac, Honeysuckle, High Bush
Cranberry.

Annual Report, 1915, Paynesville Trial Station.

FRANK BROWN, SUPT.

The summer of 1915 will long be remembered as the summer with no warm weather.  There was a heavy frost the morning of June 10th.  The season’s rainfall was very heavy, but trees at the best made only a normal growth, and with many varieties, especially of forest trees, the growth was much less than the usual growth of even a dry season.

Some fruit trees blossomed quite early, and the young fruit formed during a warm spell, and these trees were heavily loaded with fruit.  This was especially noticeable with Wealthy, Duchess, Okabena and Whitney No. 20 apples, and with some of the Hansen hybrid plums.  Other trees, fully as good bearers, blossomed a few days later and set no fruit at all, the frost killing the blossoms while not severe enough to harm the fruit already set.