New Fruits Originated at Minnesota Fruit-Breeding Farm.
CHAS. HARALSON, SUPT., EXCELSIOR.
The subject on which I am to talk is rather difficult to present at this time, but I will mention a few of the most promising new varieties.
The new and valuable hardy raspberry No. 4, growing at State Fruit-Breeding Farm.
We have developed several hundred new varieties of fruit since we started fruit-breeding at the State Fruit Farm. Many of them are very promising, but it probably will take several years before we really know what we have that will be of value to the public.
We have been growing thousands of seedlings of apples, plums, grapes, raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries and currants, from which valuable varieties have been selected. All of them have been put under propagation in a small way for testing at the Fruit Farm, trial stations and many other places. Some very favorable reports from several places have been received during the last year from parties who have fruited these new creations. We also have some hybrid peach and apricot seedlings which have stood the test of the last two winters. Some of them blossomed very freely last spring, but on account of the hard freeze in May they did not set any fruit. I hope to be able to report on these another year.
Hybrid plum No. 21—at Minnesota State Fruit-Breeding Farm.