e soil in our section of
the state. I sent out twenty-five of the circulars and twenty were
filled out and returned.

Apple raisers report, four a good crop, the balance poor or none.

Plums: One fair, others poor or none.

Cherries: One good, all others poor.

Grapes: One good, balance poor to none.

Blackberries: One good, balance poor to none.

Other fruits all poor.

Nursery stock: One place reports one car load planted, the balance a
few, all making good growth.

Strawberries: Five report good crop, balance few to poor.

Blight: Some reported but little efforts made to eradicate.

Fruit trees did not suffer much last winter (1914-5). All report plenty
of moisture in ground.

Varieties of apples doing best: Wealthy, Duchess, Longfield, Salome,
Spitzenberg, Northwestern Greening, Anisim, Malinda, Hibernal, Jonathan.

Spraying neglected very largely.

I am doing all of the top-working I can get done every spring.

Am setting largely the Salome. I find the tree hardy here; a moderate
bearer; apples fine and handsome; a good keeper; tree does not blight
and grows very thriftily. It grows on a great share of the stocks in
which I have placed it.

My next best apple is the Spitzenberg. I am not placing many Wealthy
scions, as I have about all I want of them.

I tried thinning the fruit on some of my heavy bearers last summer and
like it much. I think the best way to do it is to cut out the fruit
spurs, as that can be done in the winter.

Annual Report, 1915, Vice-President, Fifth Congressional District.

CHAS. H. RAMSDELL, MINNEAPOLIS.

The horticultural interests of the Fifth Congressional District (of
which Minneapolis is the largest part) comprise three lines of activity,
the raising of fruit, vegetables and flowers for home supply and profit,
ornamental horticulture for pleasure and the city marketing of the
produce of this and every other region, furnishing whatever is demanded
by a large metropolitan market. Therefore, I will report along these
lines.

[Illustration: Chas. H. Ramsdell.]

Judging from the reports of my correspondents throughout the country,
the "freeze" in May was responsible for a rather complete absence of
local fruit the past season. Sheltered orchards and those on the south
side of any lake bore a small crop. Of apples, the Wealthy and Malinda
are mentioned as bearing fairly well. Plums were entirely a failure,
cherries are not raised to any extent, grapes and s