Mr. Andrews:  This is a very important subject.  We have been talking about it a long, long time, and we have advanced a little, ought to have advanced quite a little more, and this exercise is along the road of improvement in that line.  Anything that is bothering us, anything that is in the way of our success with the apple orchard, ask what questions you can, not that I can answer them all, but there are some good orchardists around here that I know I can call on, in case I can not.  In this exercise the questions come first, and it is for you fellows to start the ball rolling.

There is one thing we are lacking, that is winter apples.  We have enough of fall apples, seems to me, so we can get along very well, but we are looking for something a little better quality than Malinda and that will keep somewhere near as long.  All these new seedlings that have been introduced in the past and big premiums offered, they seem to have stopped right there and we are not getting the benefit of but one or two.  If they had been adapted to the north, as they should have been, we undoubtedly could have had several good varieties of apples that we could recommend for planting a considerable 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.