Another snowy white flower is the perennial candytuft, Iberis. Blooming at the same time and remaining lovely for a long period it combines well with any of the tall tulips or narcissi or daffodils. Alyssum saxatile, with its sheet of gold, and the dear forget-me-nots, both grow well beneath the tulips. The fine lacey tufts of meadow rue are lovely among the pink and white and rose tulips. Surely the bulb beds need not be bare.

The very early blossoms are always the most welcome. So plant some bulbs, at least twenty-five, of scillas, snowdrops, snowflakes (Leucojum vernum). These, if left undisturbed, will increase greatly. The chionodoxas, grape hyacinths and crocuses are all well worth planting, but do not put the latter in the grass as they will not do well there in our climate.

FOR OUR ROSE GROWERS.

Members of the American Rose Society have been raising money to employ a trained plant pathologist to study diseases of roses. The work has been begun under Dr. L. M. Massey, of the New York State College of Agriculture, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.

By co-operating with Dr. Massey all growers of roses will greatly increase the efficiency of the investigations. A rose disease survey will first be made. It is here that all rose growers can help by sending specimens of diseased plants, with a statement regarding varieties affected, nature and extent of the injury, time of appearance of the disease and any other things that have been noticed regarding it. Information for the control of the disease will be given by Dr. Massey. The following directions are given to those sending specimens:

"The material sent should be freshly collected and should show various stages of the development of the disease. Where roots are sent it will usually be undesirable to enclose any soil. Where convenient specimens should be mailed so as to reach Ithaca the latter part of the week. Place leaves, buds, etc., between the leaves of an old newspaper, a few between each two sheets. Then roll into a tight bundle and wrap in stout paper. Attach one of the franked tags (which may be had upon request), on which you have written your name and address, and mail. It will go postage free—H.H. Whetzel, Head of the Department of Plant Pathology, New York State College of Agriculture, Cornell University, Ithaca."

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Meeting of Garden Flower Society, St. Paul, Wilder building, 2:30 p.m., October 19. Topics: "How I Made My Garden Pay" and "Work of Garden Clubs." Reports of seed trials.



While it is not the intention to publish anything in this magazine that is misleading or unreliable, yet it must be remembered that the articles published herein recite the experience and opinions of their writers, and this fact must always be noted in estimating their practical value.



THE MINNESOTA HORTICULTURIST

Vol. 44 NOVEMBER, 1916 No. 11



Peonies—Old and New.

A.M. BRAND, NURSERYMAN, FARIBAULT.

About the first thing I can remember, as I look back over the years that are past, is my father's field of peonies, and of a man standing at a table with a large peony clump before him cutting it up into divisions. I remember wondering how such beautiful flowers could come out of such an ugly, dirty root. The bright little eyes, some red, some white and others pink interested me, and boy fashion I put many questions to the man about them. And then my father came by and noticing my interest in the matter, though a busy man, stopped and explained to me the process of dividing the roots.

That was forty years ago, but from that day to this I have watched with ever increasing interest the growth and handling of peonies. I was but a small boy then, but I remember my father gave me his big pruning knife, and under his guidance I divided my first peony. And I thought I had done fairly well, for he patted me on the head and said it was well done and that some day I would make a nurseryman.

The peony industry as far as the West was concerned was in its infancy then. We had few varieties—peony buyers had not yet become critical. I can remember of but four sorts: the white variety, Whitleyii, now called Queen Victoria; the red Pottsii and the two pinks, Fragrans and Humeii. Peonies were then sold as red peonies, white peonies and pink peonies, and that was all there was to it, and the customer felt very lucky if he got the color he ordered.

But a wonderful change came over the industry along in the nineties. Some of the better varieties had worked west in different ways, and people began to waken to the fact that there were more than simply red peonies, white peonies and pink peonies. Such varieties as Festiva Maxima, Edulis Superba, Marie Lemoine, Eugene Verdier and the like came to us. Flower lovers slowly began to realize that the old, despised "piny" of mother's garden was a thing of the past, and that here in its stead we had a glorious and beautiful flower. And as the better varieties have continued to come from year to year, the interest in the flower has continued to increase until now I think I am safe in saying that in the colder portion of our country at least, and in our own state in particular, the interest manifested in the peony is greater than that taken in any other flower.

And it is of this modern peony that I am asked to tell you—of its cultivation and care, how it is multiplied and how the new sorts are produced.

Right here at the start I wish to correct an erroneous impression about the peony that has been spread broadcast throughout the land by means of not too carefully edited catalogues and misinformed salesmen.

We often hear an agent say or we read in some catalogue, "When you have the peony planted all is done." Now this is not true. It comes a long ways from being true. I think the very results which the following out of this belief have brought about are accountable for the production of more poor peonies than all other causes put together. The peony, it is true, will stand more abuse than any other flower you can name and still give fairly good results, but if you want good peonies you must take good care of them.

The planting season opens about the first of September in Minnesota—probably the middle of the month is safer—and it continues right up to the freeze-up in the fall and up to the middle of May in the spring. We have lifted peonies that have grown a foot in the spring, packed them carefully, shipped them to middle Wisconsin, and in the fall had the shipment reported as having done splendidly. September planted roots will bloom the following season. After that there is little choice between fall and spring planting.

The peony root will stand lots of abuse after being thoroughly ripe, but still it is best to handle it with care. Keep it fresh and plump until planted. If accidentally it becomes shriveled, immerse for twenty-four hours in a pail of water. This will revive it. Remove from the water and plant immediately. The roots should be planted with the tops of the buds from two to three inches below the surface—not more than three inches at the most.

Many times you will notice that you have a nice, thrifty looking plant, but that it does not bloom. Nine times out of ten if you examine into the matter you will find that your plant was set from six to eight inches deep—and this is why it didn't bloom. Another cause of peonies not blooming is their being planted in lawns where the soil is impoverished by the roots of large trees.

The common method of propagation of established varieties is by division. Grafting is resorted to by professionals in some instances, but that does not interest us here.

The peony will do well in any well drained soil, though a rich sandy loam is the best. It will give splendid results in heavy clay if well cultivated and if at the blooming season in case of drouth the plants are well watered.

Of all soils a sandy one is the poorest for the production of bloom, although, on the contrary, for the rapid production of roots the lighter soils are ideal. Such soils not only produce roots much more rapidly than the heavier soils, but produce a root that divides easier and to better advantage. But it is with the cultivation of the plant that we are most interested.

As I have said before, no plant will stand more abuse than the peony and still give fairly good results, but if given a good soil and then good cultivation we have no flower that will give us more satisfaction for the care we give it.

When grown in large numbers peonies should be planted, if possible, so that the plants can be cultivated with a horse. Deep cultivation seems to bring the best flowers. Where we can give horse cultivation we start the cultivator just as early in the spring as we can. As a rule we start by the middle of April and keep it going through the plants once a week at least, and oftener if necessary, right up to the time when the buds start to open. Cultivation here ceases until the blooming season is over and is then resumed often enough to destroy all weeds up to the first of August. We use one and two-horse cultivators and run the shovels to within three or four inches of the plants and two to three inches deep.

But few of us can cultivate in this way. Field cultivating methods are hard to apply to the lawn and garden. But we may get the same results in other ways. Clumps of peonies on the lawn should be so planted that a cultivated space encircling the plant at least a foot wide is left. This space should be covered in the fall with a mulch of well rotted barnyard manure which should be forked or spaded into the soil in the spring. And the soil about the plant should be thoroughly forked over, to a depth of two to four inches, three or four times before the blooming season.

Where the plants are planted in borders and beds in the garden, mulch and cultivate in the same way, stirring the soil all about and between the plants. Care should be taken in applying the manure mulch not to get it directly over the plant if the tops have been cut back. The stems are hollow as they die out in the fall, and thawing snow and occasional rains of winter leach the strength out of the manure, and this filters down through these hollow stems and comes in contact with the roots and rots them.

For the sake of protection the peony needs no winter mulch. For this latitude it is perfectly hardy.

After the blooming season cut all the blossom stems back to the leaves for looks. Do not cut the leaf stalk back until about the middle of September. By that time the plant is dormant, and all top growth can be removed with perfect safety.

Most of us are willing to spend this time and labor if we get results and to get the best results with peonies we must have good varieties. Of named peonies there are somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 varieties. Large collections now catalogue all the way from 250 to 500 sorts. From such collections it is hard for those not thoroughly familiar with the merits of the varieties to make an intelligent selection of moderate priced peonies for a small planting. For people so situated I make the following suggestion of varieties:

White: Candissima, Festiva Maxima, Duchess de Nemours, Duke of Wellington, Couronne d'Or, Queen Victoria, Avalanche, Madam de Verneville, Mons Dupont, Marie Lemoine.

Pink: Edulis Superba, Model de Perfection, Monsieur Jules Elie, Livingston, Mathilde de Roseneck, Alexander Dumas.

Light Pink: Eugene Verdier, Delicatissima, Marguerite Gerard, Dorchester Eugene Verdier.

Red: Richard Carvel, Felix Crousse, Meissonier, Rachel, Delachii, Purpurea Superba and Rubra Superba.

So much for the old peonies. Now to the new ones. And the question naturally comes, why any new ones? With over 2,000 varieties shouldn't we be satisfied? No! Many of the varieties catalogued might be eliminated, and we should be the gainer thereby. I believe I am safe in saying that if the present list were cut down to 300 sorts it would cover all the varieties worth while. And there is such a great chance for improvement! So many beautiful varieties coming to us of late years beckon us on. Crousse, Dessert and Lemoine have set the pace, and we of America will not be left behind.



Either eighteen or nineteen years ago my father definitely set about the bringing forth of a line of new peonies. For years he had been experimenting with seedling apples. His immense collection of peonies gave him the idea of producing something better along that line. A great bed was planted out from which to collect seed. Hundreds of the best varieties obtainable were planted in this bed, two of each variety, with a very liberal use of the three varieties, Edulis Superba, Fragrans and Triumph de l'Ex. de Lille. Some twelve varieties of the most vigorous singles of all colors were also used. Bees and the elements were allowed to do the cross-fertilizing. In the fall of 1899 the first seed, amounting in all to about a peck, was harvested and planted. This seed was allowed to dry and was planted just before it froze up, directly into the field where the plants were to remain and bloom.

The seed was planted about two inches deep, in rows two feet apart, with the seeds six inches apart in the row. Immediately after the ground froze a two-inch mulch of coarse slough hay was spread all over the field. This was removed in the spring and the field kept perfectly clean that season by hand weeding, as cultivation could not be practiced. No seed germinated that year. That fall the ground was again mulched, and this mulch removed early the next, or second, spring.

This second season just as soon as nature began to quicken the little peonies began to pierce the soil. Standing at one end of the field and looking down the rows one could fairly see the little fellows burst forth from their long confinement and thrust their little red heads in serried ranks through the brown earth. They reminded one of line upon line of miniature red-coated soldiers on parade.

A fourteen-tooth Planet Jr. horse cultivator was immediately started amongst them, and intense cultivation given the bed that season. By the end of the growing season the little plants were from two to four inches high.

The next spring, the third from the planting of the seed, the young plants burst through the ground strong and robust. Cultivation was started immediately, as during the season before, and the plants made rapid growth. By the middle of May, most of them were eight inches high with an abundance of foliage.

We noticed a few buds appear this season. The strong, vigorous development of the buds, of one plant in particular, continued to claim our attention, and we watched it with intense interest. Day by day the buds grew larger, and then finally a day came when the first petal lifted, and the next morning the petals spread forth in all their glory. It was a gem, we realized we had something first class. My father said after he had studied it a while, "It pays me for all my time, and money, and work. If I never get another as good I shall be satisfied." It was a beautiful dark red, very early, as good a red as Terry's Rachel. We named it Richard Carvel.

Six other plants bloomed that season. One was of the Japanese type. The others singles.

By the next spring the small plants were well established, and we knew by their vigorous growth that we might expect the most of them to bloom that season.

Thorough cultivation was given from the start, and by the middle of May the bed was covered with a mass of buds. June came. The blooming season was at hand. Slowly the buds began to show color. Here and there over the field a petal began to lift. A short space of anxious waiting, and then a day came when it seemed as if the bed had been touched by a hand of magic, for from one end to the other it was one solid blaze of color. Before us were thousands upon thousands of flowers and no two alike.

As quick as the flowers began to open we started to grade and mark them. It took two men working steadily for a week to inspect and mark this bed. Everything that looked choice was marked No. 1. Everything that looked as though it stood a chance of coming choice, if given a better chance, was marked No. 2. All other doubles were marked double with their color. And all singles were marked single with their color.

When the digging season came those marked Nos. 1 and 2 were lifted and divided and each planted in a bed specially prepared for them. Each sort was staked. These plants were set in rows three and one-half feet apart and three feet apart in the row.

Intense cultivation was given them for three years. The performance of each sort was recorded for each year. At the end of the third year those sorts which had come good two years out of the three were again lifted and planted in another soil and watched closely for another period of three years. This gave us a pretty definite knowledge of their behavior, made us acquainted with them. It toned down, as I might say, the enthusiasm with which we first selected them, allowed of our making careful comparison with the best sorts, and finally enabled us to keep what were really choice. We did not have any need for the others.

Of the ones first selected as No. 1 from the seed bed, about thirty-five in number, we finally kept eight; of those marked No. 2, about sixty. We afterwards selected two as first class.

Those plants simply marked double in the seed bed were planted in a regular field bed by themselves. Each plant was divided and staked. This bed was allowed to stand three years and the plants were carefully noted each year as they bloomed for varieties that we might have accidentally overlooked in the seed bed. Among these thousands of plants we found two sorts which we called first class. One of these, though it is sixteen years since the seed was planted, we are just about to send out.

I have given you the history of this single bed because it shows about how the seedling peony must be handled. We have since varied our method in handling in a single respect. We no longer plant our seed direct in the field. We find it much better to plant broadcast in seed beds. These are much more economical to keep clean the first year. After the little seedlings are one year old or, better, after they are two years old, we lift them in September and plant them in a permanent bed.



Now if any of you are tempted to grow peonies from seed let me warn you not to get too enthusiastic in anticipating results. The chances are that 999 out of every 1,000 will have to be discarded. Test thoroughly before you decide to keep. The flower my father and I both decided our best when it first bloomed we no longer keep. Our best flower is one we took no particular notice of the first two years it blossomed.

But do not let me discourage you. Though eight or ten choice varieties may seem small returns, still there is a pleasure in the work that you cannot fail but feel. And when you go forth into your fields after your stocks of better sorts have increased so that you can have each kind blooming about you in long rows, and as you see first this beautiful variety and then that come into bloom, you feel well repaid for the years of waiting and the labor you have bestowed upon them.

Mr. Brand: A great many people ask the question whether just as soon as the peony has blossomed they cannot cut the top off. It would be a great mistake to do so. Your peony growth does not complete its development until about the middle of September, and if you cut the top off just as soon as the plant has blossomed you are going to have a great many of them rot. We had a very striking illustration of this two years ago. Just as our peony season was closing we had a severe hailstorm which cut our peony beds right off down to the ground. We couldn't save the tops if we had wanted to. That fall when we dug our roots it was almost impossible to fill our orders, because the roots were in such terrible shape. The tops were removed before they ought to have been.

Talking about disappointments with peonies, I think the peony I was most impressed with of all the seedlings we have had came good but once. That was eleven or twelve years ago. As I look back upon it I think this was the most beautiful flower we ever grew, but it never came good but that once. I was so impressed with its beauty that I took it from where it bloomed in the seedbed and planted it at my house in the garden. When it came on to bloom, it was a disappointment and has been such ever since. I still keep it, hoping that some year it may bloom again as it did that first year.

Mr. Harrison: Not a bit of it. They are the most lying vegetable on the face of the earth. May I ask if Mr. Peterson, of Chicago, is here? He is an expert peony man. I presume we will all like to hear from him.

Mr. Peterson: I haven't anything to add; if you want to ask questions I will be glad to answer them.

The President: Ladies and gentlemen, you probably know that Mr. Peterson is one of the expert peony men of the United States. In fact, as far as fifteen years back we were able to get some of the newer and better varieties from this gentleman. I never had the pleasure of meeting him, but we want to meet you, Mr. Peterson. You have all heard of Mr. Peterson, the peony man of Chicago and a life member of this society. (Applause.)

Mr. Peterson: I have nothing to add. I have been in the game a good many years. We have systematically kept track of over three hundred varieties since 1888, so that it may be if you have any questions to ask I might be able to answer them, and I would be glad to. The proposition that Mr. Brand has stated is actually within the facts. We have raised thousands of seedlings, and not one of them do we now grow. You see some of the Peterson seedlings listed in other people's catalogues, but I don't have one myself.

A Member: What kind of varieties would you suggest for the ordinary home garden, best dozen varieties?

Mr. Peterson: I would name for the white peonies, the Madam de Verneville, Avalanche, Couronnes d'Or; of the pale pink, Delicatissima, Marie Crousse, Grandiflora; of the red, Monsieur Martin Cohuzac, Monsieur Krelage, Felix Crousse; of the deep pink, Modeste Guerin, M. Jules Elie and Claire Dubois. I do think that Mr. Brand has some of exceptional merit that will probably be put in the red class. I don't know his others, but Felix Crousse is undoubtedly the best of its type in the red.

A Member: Have you tried out the Baroness Schroeder?

Mr. Peterson: I surely have. It is very fine, but it is a little changeable, not only in its habits but in its shade. If you want a perfect white, it isn't that, it is a nearly flesh white. I would say that the Madame Emile Lemoine is finer.

A Member: Do you advise spraying for them?

Mr. Peterson: No, but I tell you what was asked of me today, which is the secret of having no disease in our plants. Any two-year-old plant in our field that doesn't bloom, we dig it up and throw it away, and that will nip any trouble in the bud, and then you will not get any strain that is not blooming. If we see any other defect, any that won't head good, we take it up and throw it away. That one point I think all of you can well follow, and that is, to dig up every two-year-old plant that doesn't bloom and throw it away, that is, during the blooming season.

Mr. Harrison: Some varieties will bloom and some won't. You have got to punish the whole on account of the few?

Mr. Peterson: I do that. If I have a two-year-old plant that is blooming in a section I keep it and follow it up.

Mr. Harrison: Any special rule about multiplying or dividing?

Mr. Peterson: No, except to divide in September, even possibly the last week of August, and the earlier they are divided at that time when the eyes are large, the better it is.

* * * * *

CAN FRUIT WITHOUT SUGAR.—Canning Specialists Say Boiling Water May Be Used Instead of Sirup. Fruit for use in pies or salads or as stewed fruit can be put up or canned without the use of any sugar at all, according to the canning specialists of the department. They, therefore, advise those who, because of the high price of sugar, have been thinking of reducing the amount of fruit they put up to can as much of their surplus as possible by the use of boiling water when sugar sirup is beyond their means. Any fruit, they say, may be successfully sterilized and retained in the pack by simply adding boiling water instead of the hot sirup. The use of sugar, of course, is desirable in the canning of all kinds of fruits and makes a better and ready sweetened product. Moreover, most of the fruits when canned in water alone do not retain their natural flavor, texture and color as well as fruit put up in sirup. Fruit canned without sugar to be used for sauces or desserts must be sweetened.



Fruit Retail Methods and Costs.

CLARENCE W. MOOMAW AND M.M. STEWART, FRUIT AND PRODUCE MARKETERS, PORTLAND, OREGON.

On studying the various phases of city apple marketing, special attention was given to retail methods and costs. The purpose of this study was chiefly to learn whether the wholesale supply controls the price. The cost of operation as a factor in determining retail prices also was investigated as far as possible.

Retail apple distributors may be classed as follows:

(a) Fruit-stand vendors.

(b) Fancy grocers, fruiterers, etc., catering almost exclusively to high-class or fashionable trade and doing a very extensive credit business.

(c) Grocers catering to a cheaper class of trade, largely upon a cash basis.

(d) Hucksters or street peddlers.

Relatively high prices were charged for apples purchased at fruit stands. Extra fancy Northwestern and Colorado Jonathans were sold to the dealers during October and November at prices ranging from $1 to $1.25 per box. Apples which grade 150 to the box retailed at two for five cents, or $3.75 per box. This meant a gross profit of about 250 per cent. In the ninety-six size, extra fancy Jonathans sold at three for ten cents, or $3.20 per box, showing a gross profit of about 200 per cent.

In the East Side tenement section of New York City it was learned that by reason of the cheap prices prevailing and the heavy supply of apples arriving the peddlers were operating to the detriment of fruit stands. The fruit-stand dealers were selling only about one-third to one-half the quantity of fruit handled in former seasons. The pushcart and wagon peddlers as a rule buy packed or loose fruit cheap and go direct to the homes of the residents, selling at prices considerably below the fruit-stand men. The peddlers handle a large quantity, make quick cash sales, and pay no rents. Other dealers incur heavy operating expenses and generally sell not for the purpose of moving a large quantity, but for the highest price obtainable. Consequently, the movement is restricted.

The largest profits were found usually in barreled apples. For instance, New York B grade, two inches minimum, approximately 600 apples to the barrel, sold for a cent each or $6 per barrel. These apples cost the retail dealer not over $2 per barrel delivered to his store, allowance being made for jobber's profit and drayage. The investigator saw "A grade" fruit, 2-1/2 inches minimum, averaging about 400 apples per barrel, which cost the retailer not over $3, being displayed for sale at two for five cents, or $11.25 per barrel. Such prices prevailed at no less than twenty-five retail stores visited in one day. Apples were being offered for sale at retail all over New York City at prices ranging from one cent each at the cheap corner fruit stands, to fifty cents and eighty cents per dozen at the fanciest fruit stores.

In general, it may be said that the gross profits of fruit-stand vendors range from 100 to 250 per cent. Operating expenses other than rent in most cities except New York are not relatively high and all sales are on a strictly cash basis; hence the net profits on good fruit are large.

Grocers catering to high-class trade buy only the best apples. Extra fancy Jonathans, Grimes, etc., preferably 138's and 150's size, were purchased at $1 to $1.25 per box. These apples were taken from the box and repacked in small splint trays similar to the peach basket used in a six-basket carrier. Each box of apples filled approximately ten trays. Each tray sold for thirty cents; hence the box brought $3, representing a gross profit of about $1.75. Extra fancy Delicious and Winter Banana, 72's size, purchased at $2 per box, retailed at five cents each, or $3.60 per box. Other sizes and varieties brought corresponding prices. No attempt was made by this class of grocers to stimulate consumption by temporarily reducing prices.

The retail prices quoted above were maintained consistently throughout the 1914 season, regardless of prevailing jobbing prices. The large margins charged by the retailers, for the most part, were due apparently to the small amount of business handled, the perishable nature of the commodity, and the cost of operation.

An elaborate and efficient delivery service must be maintained by the grocers, and many small deliveries are made each day at an actual loss to the dealer. A large proportion of the grocery-store patrons buy on credit and pay when it becomes convenient. Many of these accounts are never paid. Hence it becomes apparent that the good customer who pays his bill regularly each week, or who pays cash, must suffer for the shortcomings of others. However, there can be little doubt that reducing prices would materially increase consumption and in the end result in equally good profits for the dealers. Reduced prices and better business practice should prove to be very beneficial to grower, dealer and consumer.

The profits derived from the sale of cheaper grades of apples to the poorer class of consumers are not so large. It was learned that those catering to such trade operated on a margin of 75 to 100 per cent. of the purchase price.



Raspberries.

F. C. ERKEL, FRUIT GROWER, ROCKFORD.

Raspberries are so easily grown it is surprising we do not find more farmers and back lot gardeners in the city giving them attention. I believe more people would raise raspberries if they could be made to realize what great returns they would receive for a little work and care. As a commercial proposition raspberries are the poor man's friend, yielding large returns with very small investment and requiring but little land.

I will attempt to give a few essentials in raspberry culture without going into detail, with the hopes that at least a few more patches of raspberries may be planted as a result of my effort. With the main points of raspberry culture given, there is no reason why any one with ordinary intelligence can not solve the details and meet with success.

Raspberries have a little advantage over strawberries with the man who is not greatly enthused over small fruit culture. When once established the plantings do not have to be renewed annually but with ordinary care will last several years, in fact they will stand more Junegrass sod and weeds and general neglect and still produce results than anything else I know of unless it is apple trees.

Another point in favor of raspberries over strawberries is that it is not quite so hard on the back to pick them, and when large quantities are grown it is easier to get pickers.

Red raspberries will succeed on most any kind of soil so long as it is kept reasonably well fertilized and supplied with humus. They prefer a moist loam, and a northern slope is preferable to a southern slope because not so quickly affected by drought. Good drainage is necessary, and if planted on low ground where water is liable to stand at any time the ground should be tiled or otherwise drained.

Raspberries may be planted either in the fall or spring, or the plants may be dug in the fall, heeled in outside, covered with mulch, or they may be stored in the cellar and planted in spring.

Plants bought from a nursery in the spring should be unpacked immediately on arrival, the roots dipped in thin mud, then heeled in until permanently planted, even if the delay is but a day or two.

The tops of the plants should be cut, leaving but a few inches, and if any blossoms appear the first season it would be better to remove them to prevent fruiting. It would be expecting too much of a newly transplanted plant to make much of any growth and produce fruit the same season. If allowed to fruit the first season but little fruit could be expected at best, and it would leave the plant dwarfed if indeed it were not killed outright.

The suckers that come up the first season will produce the next season's crop, after which they die down and should be removed, other suckers taking their places annually. Not over two or three suckers should be allowed to each plant the first year; after the first year leave five to eight in each hill, depending on the kind of soil, fertility, etc.

When plants are cheap and plentiful it is customary to use two in each hill to insure a good stand the first year, but it is reasonable to expect, however, where there are two root systems in each hill instead of one that in after years there would be more troublesome suckers to remove than if there was but one root in each hill, and this is no small matter with some varieties.

To obtain planting stock large clusters of roots may be divided to propagate from, but these usually have but few fibrous roots and are not as good as first year's growth suckers, springing from roots near the parent plant. Red raspberries may also be propagated from root cuttings or even from seeds, the latter not coming true to variety, however.

Plantings should preferably be made on ground plowed the fall previous, but spring plowed ground will answer if thoroughly disced, harrowed and planked and then repeated, to make the ground firm.

If the ground is poor add a liberal dressing of well decayed barnyard dressing before plowing, or if not well decayed wait until after planting to apply the manure. Future cultivations will mix the dressing with the surface soil where the roots will be able to reach it, since raspberry plants are close surface feeders, and for this reason all cultivations should be shallow after the root system has formed.

When the matted row system of planting is adopted, the late Prof. Green advised using a heavy mulch for two feet on each side of the rows to preserve moisture and discourage weed growth close to the plants, cultivating only a strip through the middle.

Raspberries may be planted in rows five or six feet apart to allow cultivation both ways, or in rows seven feet apart with plants two or three feet apart in the rows with the idea of allowing a matted row and cultivating but one way after the first season.

The matted row is hardly to be recommended unless one is willing to use a hoe rather freely to keep the plants free from weeds where the cultivator can not reach them, or unless he can provide a good, deep mulch to discourage weed growth.

Rows should preferably run north and south, so the fruit will be shaded during the middle of the day, but this is not absolutely necessary.

In setting the plants place them just a little deeper than they grew originally, carry them to the field in pails of water or thin mud, avoiding exposure of the roots to the air unprotected, but do not use water in the holes unless the ground is extremely dry. Firm the ground well close to the plant, and cultivate between rows all summer to preserve moisture, whether weeds are troublesome or not, up to September 1st and be sure to cultivate shallow after the roots begin to occupy the ground.

Hills that grow exceedingly tall and rank may be cut back to about two and a half feet in height in the spring, or if one is willing to take the trouble to pinch off the end of the plants at this height during the growing season they will get bushy plants better able to hold up a load of fruit—besides cutting back has a tendency to produce larger fruit.

We only grow two varieties of red raspberries, both of which are perfectly hardy without winter covering, so we have no suggestions to make or experiences to relate regarding winter protection. I am afraid I would be tempted to quit the business if I had to cover our raspberry bushes for winter protection. I think it would be as big a task as all the rest of the work combined except picking, and I let some one else do that part.

For a home garden it is even more desirable to select a variety that is hardy without winter covering than when grown in a commercial way, for this is one of the tasks that is liable to be neglected unless one makes a business of it.

In choosing a variety the other qualities to look for besides hardiness without winter covering are size, color, flavor, prolificacy and good shipping qualities.

We are located only twenty-five miles northwest of Minneapolis, and one would naturally suppose we would market our berries there, but we get better prices in towns along the Soo railroad in western Minnesota and the Dakotas.

Although our berries are a variety that crumble unless left on the bushes until ripe they do not spoil readily, which is probably due to the fact they are quite acid, and we ship to points in North Dakota nearly as far west as Chicago is east of us with very little loss. Wherever our berries have been introduced they have made friends, and there is hardly ever a time that we do not have standing orders for two or three times as many berries as we can furnish.

We usually ship in flat cases, two boxes deep, twenty-four pints to a crate, which brought us $2.00, $2.25 and $2.50 per crate net, f.o.b. shipping point.

There is but one other berry grower near us, so we do not have much difficulty in getting pickers. The first year we built a couple of small cottages to accommodate people from the city who might care to combine berry picking with a few days' outing, and it was surprising what a good class this proposition appealed to, but we now have enough local pickers to care for our crop.

The profits in raspberry culture vary all the way from little or nothing above cost of production up to several hundred dollars per acre, depending on the season and how well cared for.

Whether raspberry culture is a money making proposition or not in a commercial way, there certainly is no good reason why every farm or city garden should not have at least a few hills of raspberries for home use. Even leaving the matter of cost out of the question, there is a difference between fruit just off the bushes and that which has stood around in hot, dusty places several hours or longer waiting for a purchaser. Try it and be convinced!

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TO INOCULATE SEED.—Coating the seed of legumes with inoculated soil before planting is a simple method of insuring soil inoculation at slight cost. County agents in Illinois have found ordinary furniture glue effective in holding particles of inoculated soil to the seeds. This method gives each individual seed some of the particles of inoculated soil, which it carries with it when it is planted. The scheme requires but a small amount of inoculated soil and costs but a few cents an acre. The method is described in Farmers' Bulletin 704 of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Dissolve two handfuls of furniture glue for every gallon of boiling water and allow the solution to cool. Put the seed in a washtub and then sprinkle enough of the solution on the seed to moisten but not to wet it (one quart per bushel is sufficient) and stir the mixture thoroughly until all the seed are moistened.

Secure the inoculated soil from a place where the same kind of plants as the seed are growing, making sure that the roots have a vigorous development of nodules. Dry the soil in the shade, preferably in the barn or basement, and pulverize it thoroughly into a dust. Scatter this dust over the moistened seed, using from one half to one gallon of dirt for each bushel of seed, mixing thoroughly until the seed no longer stick together. The seed are then ready to sow.



The Flower Garden.

(AN EXERCISE LED BY G. C. HAWKINS, FLORIST, MINNEAPOLIS, AT THE 1915 ANNUAL MEETING.)

Mr. Hawkins: We have a question box and I would be glad to have any one use it or rise and state their question. I will answer, giving my experience.

The first question I will read is—"What would you advise about covering in the garden in a season like this?" There are now two questions to be answered. First, what kind of covering? Second, how much?

The first question can be answered this way. Every garden is benefited by a good covering of well decayed manure. Second. Any light covering of straw or horse manure with plenty of straw in it is very good. Leaves make a good covering if they can be kept dry, but leaves when not covered get wet, pack down over a plant and too often do more damage than good. The advantage of covering, or mulching, is to prevent thawing and freezing. To keep plants frozen from fall until spring would be ideal. The ideal winter is one when the snow falls early and stays on during the winter. We should cover lightly the plants that need protection, and when the snow falls, as a warm blanket, the plants will come through the winter in perfect shape.

Mr. Hawkins: We have a question box and would be glad to have any one use it, or rise and ask your question, and we will endeavor to answer it and give our experience along that line.

Mr. Horton: What would you advise for plants that are infected with aphis?

Mr. Hawkins: Spraying is one of the best things and for that we use a weak tobacco solution, so as to moisten the plants, a light mist will do the work. I want to tell a little experience in growing peonies. Last year I tried the experiment of using ground bone around them, which is one of the best fertilizers we have. It contains nearly all the elements of a perfect fertilizer. Just as soon as the little joints come out of the ground, dig a trench about three inches from the main bush, about two inches deep and fill with ground bone and watch the result. I carried this plan out with wonderful success, getting 350 perfect blossoms on twenty-five bushes. It takes bone about thirty days to commence to dissolve. The day of the automobile has brought need for a new fertilizer, and we must carefully select the best that can be had. We must turn back again to the green crops and the artificial fertilizers. This also works well with roses.

Mr. Reckstrom: Would bone do that was bought for the chickens?

Mr. Hawkins: Yes. You understand the finer the particles the quicker it commences to dissolve.

A Member: Where can ground bone be obtained?

Mr. Hawkins: All first class seedsmen have it from small packages of ten pounds to 100 pound sacks.

Mr. Bell: I tried hardwood ashes, and that seemed to be the best thing I struck. There were some shrub lilacs that didn't blossom. One winter I just put the ashes right on, probably a bushel around the one large bush. After that I had plenty of blossoms. On peonies and roses the result seems to be very good.



Mr. Hawkins: No question but what ashes are very fine, for the simple reason the potash in hardwood ashes is a very good fertilizer. I would like to ask some one to give his experience in regard to rust on the tiger lily and the phlox. The perennial phlox is one of the most beautiful flowers we have, and there has been considerable trouble this year with a rust which takes all the leaves off the stalk and is injurious to the blossoms. I did not find any successful remedy for it, and I would be very glad if some member would give his experience.

Mrs. Sawyer: I think you will find bordeaux mixture is good as anything for the rust on phlox. There is another mixture given for use in the English gardens, but their conditions are not the same as ours. It seems that changing the location of the phlox may do it good. Phlox is a plant that wants free circulation of air. Sometimes they get crowded in the garden, and a combination of heat and moisture produces the rust. By changing them to some other ground sometimes it entirely disappears.

Mr. Hawkins: Mrs. Sawyer thinks this would be a remedy, as they require a circulation of fresh air and keep down moisture. We know this, phlox should be divided every third year. If you lift some you will find in the middle a woody dry substance absolutely detrimental to a large, healthy growing phlox. If you take off the little plants that come at the outside of this and replant them you will find your flowers will be much larger the next year. If we leave bunches of phlox in the same place successive years they become small. If you separate them it will add vigor to your plant, and the flowers will do better. I would like to ask what success you have had with growing tritoma, the flame flower? Have you had any difficulty in raising them?

Mrs. Tillotson: I have one blossom that seemed to take such a long time to get above the ground I wondered what was the matter with it.

Mr. Hawkins: Mrs. Gould, can you give us any enlightenment?

Mrs. Gould: I never raised them, I got some bulbs this year. I know you have to take them up in the winter and store them like gladiolus, and they do not require very heavy soil.

Mrs. Countryman: Will yucca filamentosa ever blossom in a garden in St. Paul?

Mrs. Sawyer: It will, but it doesn't always. It does blossom in Minnesota, but I know that people have a great deal of difficulty getting blossoms.

Mrs. Countryman: I have five plants growing four years and have never seen a blossom yet.

Mr. Hawkins: I have had two growing three years, and I never have seen the color of a blossom yet.

A Member: What kind is that?

Mr. Hawkins: It is the yucca filamentosa. It is an evergreen. It should throw up a tall stalk with large branches and plenty of white flowers, I think hundreds of flowers—that is the description. It is a beautiful thing in the garden anyway.

Mrs. Countryman: I have seen them in blossom in California.

Mr. Richardson: I have seen them blossom many times in Winnebago.

Mrs. Countryman: Give us the culture instructions.

Mr. Richardson: I grew in nursery rows some odd stuff, had the same culture that the nursery had. But when it blossomed one year I have been told on good authority it would be five years before that stalk would blossom again, only blossoms once in five years, but by having many stalks they don't all blossom at the same time. I have had them two or three years in succession but not on the same stalk.

Mrs. Countryman: Do you cover them winters?

Mr. Richardson: Never.

Mr. Hawkins: I think the only reason why the yucca filamentosa doesn't do well is because it is a plant of the southwest and grows in a warmer climate.

Mrs. Sawyer: I had a varied experience in growing those plants, and I took a great deal of pains to learn all I could from different sources and different people, and I believe our trouble is our late frosts, I think that is conceded by people who have really gone into the question thoroughly. Our late frosts injure them more than anything else. A little protection in the spring is what they need more than protection in winter, and we know that they don't want a wet place.

Mr. Hawkins: I want to recommend a flower that should be very popular. It is perfectly hardy, blossoms for years, the hardy pyrethrum. It is a daisy-like flower, absolutely free from insects and a sure bloomer. We have plants in the garden that have bloomed six years. It comes in many shades, from white to deep crimson, blooms from the 15th of May to the 1st of July and makes a beautiful showing. In regard to iris, did any one have any trouble with their iris coming a little ahead of time last year and being frozen?

Mrs. Sawyer: I guess they all froze off. I don't think it was because they were ahead of time; it was because of the frost.

Mr. Hawkins: What would you recommend?

Mrs. Sawyer: I don't think there is anything to do in weather like last spring, you can't cover anything away from a hard black frost like that was.



Mr. Hawkins: We have several hundred plants on a southern slope, and I thought perhaps the sun beating against the southern slope is what started them earlier.

Mrs. Sawyer: Ours weren't on a southern slope, pretty near level, rather north than anything else, and they got frozen.

A Member: What causes the rot in the iris?

Mr. Hawkins: That depends upon the kind of iris. With the bulbous rooted iris, the bulb is filled full of water during the heavy rains, and if you add more water to it it simply decays. The Siberian and many of the fibrous rooted iris will stand a great deal of water.

A Member: Does the German?

Mr. Hawkins: The German is a bulbous root. As I said, it takes all the moisture it needs. That is one reason why iris never wilts down in a dry spell. It always looks fresh and green.

A Member: I would like to say it is well not to plant the iris deep. The natural iris will lie almost on top of the ground, and they like to have the sun beat down on them. The iris likes to bask in the sun.

Mr. Hawkins: This would prove to you that the bulb takes enough water to support it and doesn't need any more because it rests on the top and basks in the sun. Has any one tried anything new in the garden that will stand our climate?

Mrs. Norton: I would suggest that hardy alum-root, or heuchera. It is a perfectly hardy perennial, can stand our worst winters without any covering, and it grows about so high from the ground (indicating two or three feet), with its geranium-like leaves, and the flower grows about three feet high, all covered with pink bells on the stems. It is a very decorative plant and perfectly hardy. I think it has been much neglected in the Northwest because it is so perfectly hardy and it increases very rapidly. I have over one hundred.

Mr. Hawkins: I would like Mrs. Gibbs to say a word.

Mrs. Gibbs: The only thing I can say is that I enjoy being around among other people's gardens. I think that is one of the best places to find out things that we want; so many times we buy something that sounds well, but when we have it planted it doesn't look as well. I think one of the best ways is to visit gardens and especially those that use labels.

A Member: I would like to ask about the trollius.

Mr. Hawkins: Has any one had experience in raising trollius?

Mrs. Gould: I have had experience in not raising them. I planted three years, and after getting the seeds from all the seedsmen I discovered in a book on plants that the seed would have to be in the ground two years in order to germinate. I didn't know that and left them in only a few months. I think the only way is to buy the plants. It is a very beautiful plant, yellow and shaped like golden glow, belongs to the same family as the buttercup.

A Member: I would like to ask about the hollyhocks. I saw such beautiful hollyhocks around Lake Minnetonka and I have never been able to make them winter. I would like to ask about that.

Mr. Hawkins: We have three plants, hollyhocks, digitalis and canterbury bells, and nearly all have the same trouble with them. If we mulch them we are liable to have the center decay and the plants practically useless. It is a question of mulching them too much or not mulching them. I would like to have you speak up and tell us your experience. I have in mind a gentleman who raises splendid hollyhocks in the neighborhood of the lakes. Takes no care of them, and yet he had one this year seventeen feet high, which took care of itself and had any amount of blossoms. I tried that experiment several years myself of mulching them, and the crown rotted. These are three of the best flowers of the garden, and we ought to have some certain way of keeping them.

A Member: Have you ever tried mulching them with corn stalks?

Mr. Hawkins: Yes, I have tried it but lost them.

A Member: I had very good luck with them that way.

A Member: It is more a question of drainage than of mulching.

Mr. Hawkins: That might be.

Mrs. Gould: I wish simply to say that the trouble with winter grown hollyhocks and canterbury bells is that they will head so tall and must be kept dry. I always cover the hollyhocks and if I had the others I think I would cover them. I uncover mine early in the spring, and if it gets cold put on a little more straw. You are almost sure to uncover them the wrong time. With foxgloves I think it is almost unnecessary to cover them.

Mr. Hawkins: In our gardens the hollyhocks form one of the best backgrounds we can have, beautiful, tall, stately stalks, and the canterbury bells, certainly nothing more beautiful than they. Then we come to the other, the digitalis, which is equally as beautiful. We must give our attention to the protection and growth of these in years to come because they are three of the beautiful things of the garden. It has been suggested that digitalis be potted and put inside the cold frame and leaves put over them. I think leaves are a splendid protection if you can keep them dry. If I were using them as a mulch I would keep out the water by covering with roofing paper to keep them dry.

Mrs. Countryman: I am told on good authority that the hollyhock is a true perennial and not a biennial.

Mrs. White: It is listed in the foreign catalogs as both a perennial and a biennial.

Mrs. Countryman: Wouldn't the hollyhock come under the heading of being perennial but not a permanent perennial?

Mr. Hawkins: It might be classed that way. There seems to be a difference of opinion as to just what it is. I have known them to come six or seven years in the same spot.

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TIE TRAP FOR RABBITS.—An inexpensive and permanent sewer tile trap for cottontail rabbits has proved very effective in Kansas. To make the trap, proceed as follows:

"Set a 12 by 6-inch 'T' sewer tile with the long end downward, and bury it so that the 6-inch opening at the side is below the surface of the ground. Connect two lengths of 6-inch sewer pipe horizontally with the side opening. Second grade or even broken tile will do. Cover the joints with soil so as to exclude light. Provide a tight removable cover, such as an old harrow disk, for the top of the large tile. The projecting end of the small tile is then surrounded with rocks, brush, or wood, so as to make the hole look inviting to rabbits and encourage them to frequent the den. Rabbits, of course, are free to go in or out of these dens, which should be constructed in promising spots on the farm and in the orchard. A trained dog will locate inhabited dens. The outlet is closed with a disk of wood on a stake, or the dog guards the opening. The cover is lifted and the rabbits captured by hand.

"These traps are especially suitable for open lands and prairies, where rabbits cannot find natural hiding places. They are permanent and cost nothing for repairs from year to year. If it is desired to poison rabbits, the baits may be placed inside these traps, out of the way of domestic animals or birds. This trap also furnishes an excellent means of obtaining rabbits for the table, or even for market."—U.S. Dept. of Agri.



Blueberry Culture.

U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE.

Blueberries thrive best on soils which are so acid that they are usually considered almost worthless for ordinary agricultural purposes. Blueberry culture, therefore, offers possibilities of profit to individual land-owners in districts in which the general conditions are especially hard and unpromising. Blueberries can not be grown in ordinary fertile soils.

Although frequently confused, especially in the South and in the Middle West, blueberries and huckleberries are quite distinct. In New England the name "huckleberry" is restricted to berries which contain 10 large seeds with bony coverings like minute peach pits which crackle between the teeth, while the name "blueberry" is applied to various species of berries containing many but very small seeds. It is the latter, not the large-seeded huckleberry, which offers possibilities for profitable culture.

At the present stage of the blueberry industry it is best to begin by transplanting the most promising wild bushes, selecting them for the size, flavor, color and earliness of the berry as well as for the vigor and productiveness of the bush. These plants can be propagated in various ways, which are described in detail in a professional paper of the department, Bulletin No. 334, by Frederick V. Coville. The aim of the cultivator should be to secure bushes which will produce large berries. These cost less to pick than small ones and bring a higher price on the market. A berry eleven-sixteenths of an inch in diameter has already been produced under field culture.

The three fundamental requirements for successful blueberry culture are: (1) An acid soil, especially one composed of peat and sand; (2) good drainage and thorough aeration of the surface soil; and (3) permanent but moderate soil moisture. Next in importance to these essentials is a location such that the berries may reach the market without delay. The best prices are obtained about the beginning of the wild blueberry season. The main crop of wild blueberries comes from northern New England, Canada and northern Michigan. A location to the south of these areas where the berries will mature earlier is, therefore, to be desired for the commercial cultivator. One of the most promising districts now known is the cranberry region of New Jersey, where berries mature early and the shipping facilities to the market in Philadelphia, New York and Boston are good.

Another important factor to be considered in selecting a location for a blueberry patch is the possibility of late spring freezes. For this reason the bottoms of valleys should be avoided. Freezing seldom injures the blueberry plant itself, but the fruit crop is often destroyed in this way. From past observations it appears that wild blueberries growing in or around bodies of water frequently escape the injurious effects of late spring freezes, and it seems, therefore, that a flooding equipment for blueberry plantations similar to those used for cranberry bogs may, under certain circumstances, prove commercially advantageous.

At the present time, however, only a beginning has been made in blueberry culture. The yield and profits in field plantations from improved bushes have not as yet been ascertained. There is, however, one small planting in Indiana where complete records have been maintained for the past six years. This plantation was started in 1889 in a natural blueberry bog, which was first drained and then set with wild blueberry bushes transplanted without selection for individual productiveness or size of berries. On this plantation the yield per acre has averaged 1,741 quarts for the past six years. This average would have been somewhat higher except for the almost total failure of the crop in 1910, due to late spring freezes. An average of 14-1/2 cents a quart has been received for the berries and the net profit per acre is estimated at $116 a year. In this estimate allowance has been made for interest, taxes and depreciation. The expense for weeding, cultivation, and irrigation is placed at $20 an acre and the cost of picking at five cents a quart.

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HOMEMADE FIRELESS COOKER.—A wooden or tin pail, lined with two thicknesses of paper and provided with a close-fitting cover, may be used for the outside container of the cooker. Allow for three inches of packing on all sides and at the bottom of the pail. A gallon oyster can will serve very well for the nest, which should be wrapped on the outside next to the packing with asbestos and a piece of asbestos placed under the bottom to prevent the scorching of the packing when hot soapstones are used. Shredded newspaper and excelsior make a good packing. Pack this very tightly around and to the top of the nest, the top of which should be about three inches below the lid of the outside container. A piece of cardboard cut to fit inside the lard can with a circle cut out of the center around the top of the oyster can or nest will hide the packing and make a neat finish. Place a three-inch cushion of unbleached muslin, stuffed tightly with excelsior, on top of the lid of the nest. When the top of the outside container is placed on and hooked down, it will be tight enough to cause a pressure. If a tin pail is used for the outside container, it may be enameled white, or a wooden pail stained brown, making a neat-looking appliance for any kitchen. Regular aluminum fireless-cooker utensils may be used for cooking the food in the nest, but any kind of a vessel with a close-fitting top and one that fits closely in the nest is suitable.—U.S. Dept. Agri.



Hardy Perennials.

MISS GRACE E. KIMBALL, WALTHAM.

There has been very little in my work with hardy perennials that seems worth relating. For many years, in Austin, we had iris, peonies and phlox in our garden. While my love for flowers and outdoor work led me to spend all my time, outside of office hours, in the garden, the iris and peonies, especially, never gave any trouble but grew and blossomed in the most approved fashion. With the phlox we have had more trouble, sometimes in dry seasons not getting the bloom we should, and finally, the last year we were there, losing nearly all the roots we had. I am now inclined to think that had we divided and transplanted them some years before, we would not have lost them.

It was only a few years ago that I began to realize that herbaceous perennials could, with success, be planted in the fall in our climate, and it was not until two years ago that I made any attempt at fall planting. That year I was quite successful, but last year, wishing to divide as close as possible, especially with the iris, I evidently overdid the matter, with the result that I lost many of my plants. However, I learned my lesson, and this year they were not divided so closely, and I am hoping that they will come through the winter all right.

With the hardy perennials easily raised from seed my first experience was with the oriental poppy. I had greatly desired to have some in the garden and, not knowing that the fall was the time to plant them, ordered some one spring. They failed to grow, so the next year I attempted to raise them from seed, starting them in the house as I did my pansy seed. But I was far from successful in that way, and having read some articles on the difficulty of raising them from seed, also learning that they should be set out in the fall, I made up my mind they were not worth bothering with.

However, father suggested I might succeed by planting the seed in the shade out of doors, and even though it was quite late in the summer I got more seed and sowed it broadcast in a hedge of lilacs, syringas and so forth, kept the ground moist, and in a short time had many plants coming up. I also had ordered a few to be shipped me in the fall.

By fall my seedlings were large enough to be transplanted into boxes, to be moved as we were moving from Austin to Waltham. With those I had ordered for fall delivery, they were moved to our new place, the boxes sunk in the ground, and the next spring put into a hedge with other plants—for while they do not stand transportation very well in the spring, I have been successful in transplanting them from one part of our grounds to another at that season.

Since coming to Waltham I have started the seeds of the poppy, larkspur, columbine and gaillardia in a grove near the house, where they are easily kept moist. If I get the seed in early in the spring, the plants are often large enough to transplant in the fall. However I like better to plant the seed later, about the time the first blossoms from each variety have ripened their seed. The seedlings will then be large enough to withstand the winter with a little protection and ready for spring transplanting.

With a comparatively small amount of work, and very ordinary care, once the plants are set out anyone can have continuous bloom from early spring until frosts come, by setting iris, peonies, phlox, columbine, poppies, larkspur, gaillardia, giant daisy and painted daisy. Such a selection would make a big variety of color and form in the garden, and all but the first three kinds can be very easily raised from seed. Or not wishing so many kinds, one can have flowers all summer by a careful selection of several varieties of iris, peonies and phlox.



Why Should We Grow Seedling Apples?

ISAAC JOHNSON, WEST UNION, IA.

There is no work in fruit growing that has more taken my attention and given me more pleasure than the growing of seedling apples. For many years I have been of the opinion that apples for this severe climate must be grown from seed. If we succeed in growing hardy, productive and good keeping varieties, they must be native, or raised at home. By experimental work along in this line of growing fruit we have come to this conclusion that fruit trees do best grow at home.

In looking over the list of apples we grow this far north, we all know that the hardiest and the most productive kind are seedlings, either from Minnesota, Iowa or Wisconsin. Minnesota has the Wealthy, the banner apple; for early and late fall apple it has no equal. Wisconsin has the Northwestern Greening and the Wolf River, which are very large, showy and good market apples. We all know what Mr. Patten has done along in this line of growing seedlings.

At the state horticultural meeting in Des Moines, December last, was exhibited one hundred varieties of seedlings and a large number of those, to my judgment, were good keepers and fine looking apples. Hundreds and hundreds of varieties of apples have been imported from Russia, and I for one have tested fifty or sixty of those Russian varieties, but at the state meeting, where I exhibited seventy-seven varieties, I was able to show only three Russian varieties, Longfield, Antinovka and Volga Cross. I think I have reason to ask what would we have for apples today if there had not been any seedlings raised? Why does the State of Minnesota offer one thousand dollars for a seedling apple tree that is as hardy as the Duchess with fruit as good as the Wealthy and that keeps as well as the Malinda? Because to get such a variety it must come from seed.



Planting for Color Effects in the Garden.

MRS. H. B. TILLOTSON, MINNEAPOLIS.

The most attractive flower bed in my garden this year has been the one planted for a blue and white effect. From earliest spring, soon after the snow had gone, until now, October 4th, there has been something interesting and beautiful blooming there.

In the middle of the summer it was one tangled mass of lilies, delphinium, phlox and gypsophila, their perfume filling the whole garden. As the lilies faded and the delphinium grew old and went to seed, the old stalks were cut away. The phlox and delphinium bloomed again in a little while, and in September the candidum lilies began to come through the ground, getting ready for next year.

The bed is three feet wide by thirty long, and was covered last winter with loose straw and leaves, with a few cornstalks to hold them in place. Early in April this was raked off and the edges of the bed made straight, for the grass always grows in a little each year. The warm sunshine soon brought out the scilla and crocus, almost carpeting the whole bed. One would not think of the other things hiding under their leaves.

The forget-me-nots began to look green along the edge, and up through the fading crocus and scilla came a few straggling grape hyacinths, blue and white, and one lonely plant of the Virginia cowslip (Mertensia)—more could have been used with good effect, for they too disappear after awhile.

The Virginia cowslip staid in bloom until the forget-me-nots were a mass of blossoms, and the blue Darwin tulips (pink, really, with a blue spot in the bottom of the cup, just back of them) were in all their glory. In the middle of the bed the Madonna lilies, and belladona delphinium had covered the ground with green. In spots the wild violets were in blossom—they had crept in some way from the dirt—I think it had been taken from the woods near by.

Watching each day, for the friends I knew would soon be coming, I found the first shoots of the hardy phlox, which I knew to be G. Von Losburg and Miss Lingard. Double blue bachelor buttons, self sown, were there, some transplanted to fill in the bare spots, and poppies; I didn't know what color they would be, for the wind and the birds had sown the seed; but the leaves were a beautiful grey-green, and I let them grow. I had almost given up the double baby breath (gypsophila paniculata, fl. pl.), but finally it came all the way down the bed, about every five or six feet, between the delphinium and the phlox. There were perhaps a dozen plants of phlox, a dozen of belladona delphinium and six baby breath through the middle of the bed, and on each side a row of the intense blue Chinese delphinium.

Just outside these, and next to the forget-me-nots and tulips, are the bachelor buttons, and, coming through it all, a hundred candidum lilies, their waxy white blossoms glistening in the sunshine, and the perfume so heavy you knew they were there long before you could see them. The poppies, too, were there; they were double, like a peony, rose-pink with a white edge. I was glad I let them grow, for I don't think I ever saw a more beautiful sight.

I let it all grow and bloom as long as it would, hating to touch it for fear of spoiling all. Finally I was obliged to clear away the old stalks, and it looked rather bare for a time. But I brought some white asters from the reserve garden. The Baron Hulot gladoli were soon in bloom. The phlox sent up tiny shoots for new bloom from the base of each leaf, and the second crop of bachelor buttons came along. White schizanthus along the edge, covered up the old forget-me-nots, and funkia lilies (subcordata) threw up their buds. The delphinium all began to bloom again, the grey-green leaves of the baby breath was still there, and soon my bed was all abloom again and staid so the rest of the summer.

But never did it equal the glory of those first ten days of July.



The Fall-Bearing Strawberries.

CHARLES F. GARDNER, NURSERYMAN, OSAGE, IA.

(SO. MINN. HORT. SOCIETY.)

There are now such excellent varieties of fall bearing strawberries on the market that a person can have no good excuse for not planting some in his garden. Select the ground for the bed where you will get the whole benefit from the rays of the sun. I want no trees, bushes, or tall growing plants of any kind near the bed. The farther away, the better.

The earth should be made quite rich with well rotted compost. I like the plan of preparing the bed a long time before you get ready to set your plants. You can then work the soil over, time after time, and every time kill a crop of weeds. More plants are set in the spring than any other time, but they will grow and do well if set in midsummer or any time after that up to the middle of October. Get through setting in September if you can. If you set later, in October, cover the plants with a slight covering of straw as soon as planted. Then afterwards, when you make a business of covering put on a little more, cover them nicely—but you are liable to kill them if you put on too much. Two inches deep I find to be about the right depth to go through our ordinary winters. I mean two inches after the straw has settled. I think many persons spoil their plants, or at least injure them severely, by putting on too heavy a coat of covering. I will also tell you to beware of using horse-manure as a covering for strawberries. Clean straw or hay is the best of covering. (Fall planting of strawberries not advisable in Minnesota.—Secy.)

Most people do not trim the plants enough before they are set. All fruit stems should be cut off, if there are any, and the most of the old leaves removed, two or three of the youngest leaves on the plant is all that should be left. These will start right off into a vigorous growth, and you will soon have strong, healthy plants. I think it pays to put a small handful of tobacco dust on and around each hill. You can generally get it at your nearest greenhouse—or you can find out there where to send for it. Get enough to put it on two or three times during the early and latter part of summer.

Do not select ground for your new bed that has been in strawberries; take ground that has never had strawberries on, or at least that two or three crops of some kind have been taken from it since it was covered with strawberry vines.

After the plants are set, they should be well firmed; it is absolutely necessary that they should be very solid in the earth. They should not be too deep nor too shallow, one is as bad as the other. The crown buds should be in plain sight, after the ground is firmed and leveled, just in sight and no more. A little temporary hilling will do no harm, but the ground should be kept as level as possible. All cultivation should be shallow so as to not disturb the roots of the plants. This is also a very important item. Just remember that every plant loosened after it is set means death to the plant if it is not reset at once. Cultivate often when the ground is not too wet. Keep your bed entirely free of grass and weeds. This is easily done if all work is done when it should be. The time to kill weeds is when the seed first sprouts; don't wait until the weed plants are an inch or more high; if you do you will never keep them clean, and then you will never have success in your work.



Cut all fruit stems off as fast as they appear, until your plants get well rooted, and then let them bear as much as they want to. But if some plants set an unusually large number it is well to cut out part of the fruit. If rightly thinned you will increase the yield in quarts.

If fruit is the main object, after the plants are well located and begin to set fruit for your main crop, they can be mulched with clean straw or hay, carefully tucked up around each hill. This will keep the fruit clean and conserve the moisture in the soil, and you can stop cultivating. If plants are the main object, then you can not use the mulching, but must keep the cultivator going between the rows. Well informed growers of the strawberry plant generally have beds on purpose for fruit in one place, and in another place one to grow plants.

No one will make a success in growing strawberries unless he can learn to detect the rogues that appear from time to time in strawberry patches or in the fields. These rogues are generally plants that have come up from the seed that has been scattered in one way and another over the bed. Berries are stepped on and mashed, other berries are overlooked and rot on the ground, but the seed remain and germinate when the time comes for it in the spring, and some of these plants are not destroyed by cultivation or by hoeing, and soon make trouble for the grower. No seedling will be like the original plants that were first set, and many of them will be strong growing plants, good runners but worthless for fruit. When you set a new lot of plants you get some of these seedlings, and that is how the mixture comes in. I have counted one hundred and fifty seedling plants around one old plant in the spring. Of course the most of these where good tillage is practised are destroyed, but some remain in spite of all you can do unless you pay the very closest attention and learn to distinguish rogues from the true named varieties. All rogues must be kept out if you keep the variety true to name. Of course once in a while a rogue will prove to be a valuable variety, as was the case when Mr. Cooper found the Pan American eighteen years ago, from which our fall varieties owe their parentage. If you want to be successful remember to keep in mind the value of constant selection and keeping your parent stock true to name.

When you first set out your plants, go over them and examine them closely and see that everything is right. Then remember that the first sign of a good fall bearing variety is to see it throw out fruit stalks. You can cut these off, so that the stub of the fruit stem will show that it has sent up a flower stalk. You can see the stub. In this way in a small patch you can easily keep track of them. If some plants do not throw out fruit stems, mark them so you can tell them, and if they pass the season without trying to fruit, you must refrain from setting out any of the runners that appear, or there is liability of trouble. Let such plants alone for another year's trial. Then if they do no better, dig them up and destroy them. Once in a while they prove to be all right, but often they are worthless.

Learn to tell a variety by a careful examination of the plant at different times during the season. Fix the general color of the leaf in your mind, its shape and size. Notice whether the fruit stems are long or short, whether the blossoms are above the leaves, in plain sight, or are hidden below. Are there many fruit buds to the stalk, or but few? Are the blossoms pistillate or staminate? Are the petals large or small? Are the stamens long or short? Are the anthers well or poorly formed? They should be plump and well filled before they are ready to open.

Is the receptacle on which the pistils sit well formed and capable of being developed into a perfect berry, or do they look ungainly in shape? Are the petals pure white or slightly crimson? Are there many runners, or few, or none? Do the new runners bear blossoms and fruit? If so, when do they commence to bud and bloom? When do the berries begin to ripen? Notice the size and shape of the fruit, also the color. You can tell much from the taste of the berry. No two varieties taste exactly alike. Some are real sweet and some kinds real sour. Then there are all grades between.

The perfume, or fragrance, of the fruit of the common strawberry when fully ripened under proper conditions of sunlight and moisture has long been esteemed and highly appreciated by mankind in general, and in this respect the fall-bearing strawberry varies greatly. The most of the varieties excel all common kinds as to perfume and that delicate strawberry flavor which nearly everybody loves so well. Once in a while a musk-scented variety is developed, like the Milo on our grounds, which as yet has never been sent out. By paying close attention to these things you can soon learn to distinguish many varieties at any time during the growing season.

In 1898 Mr. Cooper found his seedling which he called the Pan American. From that small beginning there are now many varieties, perhaps thousands, that excel the parent plant, and perhaps a hundred varieties of great value. Some varieties have very superior merit. I will mention a few: Progressive, Peerless, Advance, Danville, Forward, Prince, Will, Milo, Nathaniel, 480, and there are others which might be mentioned. Good reports have reached me of kinds produced at your Horticultural Experiment farm by Prof. Haralson, but I have never tried them. My private opinion is that several kinds I have not mentioned will very soon take a back seat, as the saying is. The best varieties are bound to come to the front.

The best advertisement one can have is the ability to ship thousands of quarts during the whole autumn. This season we shipped 22,565 quarts, mostly sold in pint boxes. They netted us from 12-1/2 to 18 cents per pint. At home we kept them on the market during the whole season at 15 cents per quart. We lost as many as 5,000 quarts by violent storms during the season. It was a fair season for growing plants, but there was too much water to grow the best of fruit.



Heredity in Gladioli.

G. D. BLACK, GLADIOLUS SPECIALIST, INDEPENDENCE, IA.

(SO. MINN. HORT. SOCIETY.)

As heredity is a comparatively new word, it may be well to define it at the beginning of this paper. Webster says "It is the transmission of mental or physical characteristics or qualities from parent to offspring, the tendency of an organism to reproduce the characteristics of the progenitor."

Most of the species of gladioli are native in the temperate zone of Southern Africa, where they have grown for so long a time that they will reproduce themselves in a marked degree from seeds.

Some have grown in the moist soils of the valleys for so many generations that they have become adapted to these conditions and will not thrive on the elevated plateaus and mountain slopes. Those which are native in the higher and cooler altitudes will not grow well in the lower lands.

A species or variety becomes acclimated when it is grown in one locality for several successive generations, because it is one of nature's laws that it takes on new characteristics that improve it for existence there. These characters are changing more or less during each generation on account of environment.

We can not aid nature in strengthening and improving the desirable qualities unless we follow nature's laws. By crossing two varieties that have certain desirable characters in common we may be able to make these characteristics more dominant.

Much of the crossbreeding of the gladiolus has been done in such an unscientific manner that it is surprising that so much improvement has been made. This improvement is mostly the result of extra care and cultivation, and the selection of the best each generation. In order to retain the benefit of any extra care and cultivation it has to pass on as a heritage to the succeeding generation and is there incorporated among its characteristics. Each generation should be an advance toward the desired ideal.

There is no doubt in my mind that the ruffling and doubling of the petals in flowers that have been under cultivation for several generations is caused by the extra feeding and care that they have received.

Most species of gladioli in their wild state are small and lacking in beauty. Abnormal or freak varieties should not be selected as the best for breeding, because they are usually the result of a violent cross, and are nearly always weak as propagators and sometimes entirely sterile.

Princeps has a very large flower, but the spike is short and only two or three blooms are open at one time. It was originated by Dr. Van Fleet by crossing Mrs. Beecher and Cruentus. Burbank crossed Princeps and America, and quite a number of the seedlings show the markings of Mrs. Beecher, one of their grandparents, but with shorter spikes. In this cross Princeps transmits the undesirable character of short spikes but leaves out the abnormal size of flower, and the best characters of America are lacking. The parentage of America is very much in doubt, as three prominent gladiolus breeders claim the honor of originating it.

There are many characteristics to be considered when making selections for breeding besides the color and size of the flower. The bulbs of some varieties will stand considerable freezing while other varieties will not. This same characteristic is noticed in the foliage. The severe frost that killed our corn crop on August 30th so impaired Panama, Hiawatha and some others that very few blooms of these varieties opened afterwards. The foliage of some varieties remained green after a temperature of twelve degrees below freezing.

A representative of a Holland bulb growing firm who called on me a few days ago says that Niagara is a very weak grower in Holland and Panama is a very vigorous grower. My experience with these varieties is just the reverse. This seems to show that sometimes the difference in climate may cause certain characters in the plant to act differently—if the Hollander is not mistaken.

A few varieties are sometimes subject to blight and rust. Some are only slightly affected, and many others are entirely blight proof.

There are so many characteristics to be considered by the scientific breeder that it is almost impossible to enumerate them all in this paper.

There is yet a great work to be done in breeding out the undesirable traits and incorporating the improvements which we desire.



Civic Improvement.

MRS. ALBERTSON, PRES. CIVIC IMPROVEMENT LEAGUE, AUSTIN.

This is a subject so broad and so closely connected with "The City Beautiful" one can hardly find a starting point, but we might begin with the one word—civic—which has drawn to itself many minds, much sober thought and from some much hard work.

The fear was widespread that woman would work havoc if she attempted to spell the task, but how needless, for the word civic can be spelled with accuracy from whichever end approached.

What was the beginning of the civic league and the city beautiful? It began at home, where most women's work begins. To have a beautiful home one must have the right kind of house. To have the beautiful house to make the beautiful home the setting must be made to correspond—so after the house, the lawn; after the lawn, the boulevard. Then the work spread. Streets needed cleaning, unsightly billboards had to be removed, perhaps an adjoining vacant lot had a careless owner whose pride needed pricking. So the need of a civic league grew, and now it has become a vital spark in many cities all over the Union. Minnesota has over thirty civic clubs doing specific work. Is it entirely the work for women? No. Is it entirely the work for men? No. It is a work for both. It is a work that is very contagious and a contagion that needs no quarantine.

Civic league work envelopes many lines of improvement. Streets and alleys sometimes need to be reported to the proper committee of the city council; the disposal of rubbish and garbage has confronted many civic societies. There is nothing so conducive to unsanitary conditions and so disfiguring to a beautiful street as glimpses and often broad views of alleys and back yards that have become dump piles and garbage receivers.

Besides the effect on one's love for cleanliness and beauty, it breeds disease—and so public sanitation was added to the civic league work.

In some cities the societies are taking up the work of smoke abatement. I might say that we have a few offending chimneys in our own city beautiful. Every member of the city council should be a member of the civic league, for much more could be done by co-operation. There is great need of the civic improvement league and park board working together, for their aim is one—to make the city beautiful.

The work that gives the most beauty to the city after the good foundation of cleanliness, public sanitation and removal of public nuisances is that done in the parks. I am glad cities are making larger appropriations for parks, and I hope our city will have more in the future, for there are great possibilities of making our city not only a city beautiful, but a most beautiful city. Parks should be well lighted, playgrounds for children are almost a necessity, the river banks should be kept clean—but most of all the natural beauties of a place must be preserved and trees should be planted. Shade is needed as a good background. There is nothing that will enhance a beautiful statue, fountain or other park ornament like a setting of good trees.

If possible to have it there is no more attractive spot in a park than a lily pool. The old idea of laying out parks according to some geometrical pattern is giving way to the development of walk lines of practical use, recognizing both traffic requirements and the desirability of location for numerous park benches. What will lend more charm to a park than a beautiful drive bordered with noble trees leading up to some focal point or opening a way to some particular vista that would otherwise be lost!

The park board should not limit its work to parks alone, but wherever there is a spot, triangle corner or any other kind of available place, there should be planted shrubs or flower beds. They soon become a public pride and cheer many passersby. We have a number of bright spots in our city, beginning in the spring with a beautiful bed of tulips. May another year bring us many more! One forgets the mud and the disagreeable days of spring in watching the bulbs thrust their little pointed noses through the cold earth and the development of the buds until they burst open into a blaze of color, flaunting their gorgeous heads in a farewell to old winter and giving a cheery welcome to the coming summer.



BEE-KEEPER'S COLUMN.

Conducted by FRANCIS JAGER, Professor of Apiculture, University Farm, St. Paul.

If not already done the beekeeper should at once make his final preparations towards a successful wintering of bees. There are several conditions under which the bees winter well, all of which are more or less understood. The chief of these are a strong colony of young bees, sufficient amount of good stores, and the proper place to keep the bees.

Bees that were queenless late in the fall or bees that had an old queen who stopped laying very early in the season, will have only few and old bees for wintering and will not have vitality enough to survive. Such colonies should be united with some other good colony or if too far gone they should be destroyed. Weak colonies should be united until they are strong enough to occupy and fill when clustered at least six frames.

The best stores to winter bees on is pure honey capped over. Honey dew will kill the bees in winter. If you have any black honey in your hives you had better remove it and replace with white honey. A ten frame hive ready for winter ought to contain from 35 to 40 pounds of honey. A complete hive if put on a scale should weigh not less than from 50 to 60 pounds. The best way to supply food to the bees is to remove the dry combs and insert next to the cluster full combs of honey. Feeding sugar is a dangerous undertaking, and it should not be resorted to unless necessity compels one to do it, and then feeding should be done early in the season to allow the bees to invert the sugar, cap it over and consume such stores which are not capped over before winter. The hives that winter best are those which contain no uncapped honey in the frames.

For the bulk of beekeepers cellar wintering in Minnesota is to be recommended. The things to be looked after in cellar wintering are: first, that the temperature of the cellar does not go much below 45 degrees, at least not for any length of time. Second, that the entrances are kept open and clear of dead bees and are guarded with four to the inch wire screen against mice. Third, that the moisture generated by the bees does not accumulate on the walls and covers of the hives. This is most essential. Moisture absorbing material should be used in place of a wooden cover, for instance flax board or gunnysacks, or a super filled with shavings over a queen excluder. The bees must have free passage over the top of the frames. We wintered the bees at University Farm without loss by using nothing else but the one inch flax board on top of the hive, which kept the hive positively dry all winter.

Your cellar should be dark, should have some ventilation, and the bees should never be disturbed during their winter sleep. By following these recommendations, you will be delighted to find your bees in the spring in a most flourishing condition for next summer's work.



GARDEN HELPS

Conducted by Minnesota Garden Flower Society

Edited by MRS. E. W. GOULD, 2644 Humboldt Avenue So. Minneapolis.

After the frosts have killed the dahlia foliage the tubers should be dug and stored before the cold becomes so great. They may be injured by it.

The stems should be cut to about three or four inches of the roots, using a sharp knife, so as to make a clean cut. To the stems attach the label firmly. Loosen the earth about each clump before attempting to lift it, then run the spade or fork as far under it as possible and pry it gently out. In this way the tubes will not be broken or injured where they join the stem, which is the only place where they can make the next season's growth. Most of the soil will drop off as they dry. Lay the roots so that water will not have a chance to collect in the soft hollow stems, or crown rot may trouble you.

A cool, dry shed is a good place in which to cure the roots. Lay them on boards and turn them occasionally so they will dry evenly.

In a week's time they should be ready to store for winter, the best place being a frost-proof cellar. Unless this is very dry, it is best to have boards raised a few inches above the floor on which to lay them. This will allow a current of air to pass under them. If a damp cellar must be used, air slaked lime sprinkled under the boards will help to keep them dry. Cover them a little with dry sand. The best temperature is 40 degrees.

Cannas can be lifted and stored at once. Cut the stems off short, leaving enough to attach the labels to. They keep best if lifted with as much soil about them as possible. The clumps can be set close together, on boards arranged in the same way as for dahlias. They will stand a slightly warmer temperature than dahlias.

Tuberous begonias, unlike dahlias and cannas, should be lifted without cutting the stems. They should be cured in the sun for at least two weeks and during that time turned to dry evenly and kept perfectly dry. A cold frame is a good place in which to do this. When the stems part readily from the bulbs, the latter can be packed in boxes and stored in any dry place where the temperature will not fall below 40 degrees. These are among the tenderest bulbs and should be the first to be lifted.

Gladioli should be lifted with their stems intact, tied in bundles and hung in a dry shed to dry. When thoroughly dry, the stems can be cut off and the bulbs packed in boxes and stored the same as the begonias. They are especially sensitive to heat, and if the air is too dry the bulbs will shrivel and lose much of their vitality.

Montbretias should be lifted out and stored in the same way as the gladioli.

Tuberoses should be lifted with the stems intact and spread out to dry or hung in a dry place. When thoroughly cured, cut off the stems close to the bulb and store in the same way as gladioli.

Caladium, or Elephant's Ears, should be lifted without disturbing the stem or leaves. As the leaves dry they can be removed, but the stem should not be cut near the bulb, as this is the point of growth the following year. They can be stored with the dahlias and cannas and are not apt to shrivel, as the bulb is so large and fleshy.

Zephyrunthes, summer blooming hyacinths, tritomas, and tigridias should be lifted, cured, and stored in the same manner as gladioli.

All of these are subject to rot, so it is well to examine them occasionally. If any rot is found, remove the affected bulbs, and if those remaining appear damp, dust lightly with air-slaked lime. Flowers of sulphur can also be used to dust them with to prevent this trouble. Should the bulbs be getting too dry, cover with sand. In our climate of extremes, it is necessary to examine them at intervals, and be prompt in the use of a remedy if any of these adverse conditions are discovered.

* * * * *

NOTICE.

The November meeting of the Garden Flower Society will be held in the Minneapolis Park Board greenhouses, thirty-eighth street and Bryant avenue, November 16, 2:30 p.m. Take Monroe and Bryant car. St. Paul members will transfer from the Selby-Lake at Bryant avenue. This will be a chrysanthemum show, and a talk on hardy chrysanthemums will be given.



SECRETARY'S CORNER

MINNESOTA CROP IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION.—Will hold its annual meeting this year at Fairmont on Feb. 21-22-23. The seed growers of Minnesota would be especially interested in this meeting, at which there are to be a number of seed contests, particulars in regard to which are not at hand. They may be secured by addressing the secretary, Prof. C. P. Bull, University Farm, St. Paul, Minn.

THE VEGETABLE GROWERS CONVENTION.—This convention, which is I understand an annual gathering of the vegetable growers of America, was largely attended in Chicago the last week in September. A report received of the meeting indicates an attendance of eight hundred vegetable growers, including two hundred fifty from the vicinity of Chicago. The city entertained them with an inspection trip, throughout Cook County and later a party of them went to Racine and visited the experimental gardens operated by Prof. R. L. Jones, of the Wisconsin University. Perhaps we may have a fuller report of this meeting from some of our Minnesota growers who were in attendance.

THE SOCIAL ELEMENT AT OUR ANNUAL MEETING.—Making the West Hotel the headquarters of the society at the same time that the meeting is held in the building gives an especially good opportunity for renewing and cultivating acquaintance amongst the members in attendance. This was particularly noticeable last year, and without doubt one of the most enjoyable features of the gathering. Placing emphasis upon this, an additional room has been engaged for the coming meeting on the same floor and adjoining the rooms occupied last year, which will be fitted up especially for a reception room where members and their friends may gather and rest as they visit and talk of the many things of interest connected with our society and its work. A suitable sign will direct members to this reception room, and we anticipate that it will be made use of largely.