The total cost of my storage when it is entirely furnished up and the present capacity doubled will be about $3,000.00. At present it holds 2,000 standard size apple boxes.

I find that it only pays to put in good fruit that in ordinary seasons will keep until the first of March and hold its flavor well and give good satisfaction on the market. Icing stops about the middle of November. The cost per box for storage is as follows: Ice and salt, ten cents. Interest on investment, six cents. I have figured out carefully the entire cost of growing and storing apples, and find out that leaving out the interest on the value of the land, it will approximate forty-eight cents per bushel. This includes cultivation, spraying, packing, and picking. The question which now interests me is whether we can grow fruit good enough and stand the expense and compete with apples grown in the other good fruit sections of the country.

Mr. Older: I had the pleasure of visiting this plant with Mr. Wedge, and this man had quite a good many boxes of as fine apples as you would wish to see. This was along the latter part of February, and they were in fine condition. He had a lot of Jonathans and Yankees and some other varieties I don't remember, grown on top-worked trees there.



The Plum Curculio.

EDWARD A. NELSON, UNIVERSITY FARM, ST. PAUL.

(Prize Winner at Gideon Memorial Contest.)

The small crescent-shaped punctures, so common on apples, plums, peaches and other fruits, are made by a small snout-beetle known as the plum curculio. The beetles issue from their winter quarters at about the time the trees are in full bloom and feed on the tender foliage, buds and blossoms. Later they attack the newly set fruit, cutting small circular holes through the skin in feeding, while the females, in the operation of egg-laying, make the crescentic cuts so characteristic of this species. The egg, deposited under the skin of the fruit, soon hatches into a very small whitish larva or grub, which makes its way into the flesh of the fruit. Here it feeds greedily and grows rapidly, becoming, in the course of two weeks, the fat, dirty white "worm" so well known among fruit growers.

The curculio is a native of North America and for more than 150 years has been known as an enemy of fruits. Our early horticultural literature abounds with reference to its depredations. In more recent times the great increase in planting of fruits, brought about to supply the increased demand, has permitted it to become much more abundant than formerly, and the plum curculio constitutes at the present time one of the most serious insect enemies of orchard fruits. Statistics gathered of its depredations show that it is distributed over much of the area of the United States. Its western limit is, roughly, a line drawn through the centers of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. East of this line the entire United States is infested except the southern third of Florida and the northern half of Maine.

Is the plum curculio causing much damage to the fruit growing industry of this country? That it is is shown by the National Conservation Committee in its report in Volume III, page 309, where it states that the average annual loss in late years to only three fruits is as follows:

Apples $3,257,806

Peaches 4,088,814

Plums 1,244,149 ————— Grand Total $8,590,769

Just think of it! A total loss each year to only three fruits of over $8,500,000. This amount is a heavy drain upon the fruit growing industry of this country. During the past twenty-five or thirty years the total damage caused by this insect, to the various fruits which it attacks, would, on a conservative estimate, probably be not less than $100,000,000.

These figures show the absolute need of the adoption of effective remedial measures against this insect so as to lessen this loss. But before we can hope to combat this insect systematically and successfully it is necessary to know its life history and habits.



There are four distinct stages in its life cycle: (1) The egg, (2) the larva, or "worm," (3) the pupa, and (4) the adult, or beetle.

The curculio passes the winter in the adult stage under accumulations of partly decayed leaves, among the closely-packed dried grass of sod-covered orchards, and probably wherever suitable protection from the winter may be found. Its depredations are usually worse near woods, so it probably finds here very suitable places for wintering.

In the spring, when the fruit buds are unfolding, the beetles begin to emerge from their winter quarters and feed to some extent on the blossoms and tender leaves of the fruit trees. Mating soon begins, and by the time the fruit is well set the beetles make this fruit the chief object of their attention. The circular punctures in the skin are feeding punctures, while the crescent-shaped ones are egg-laying punctures. A single egg is deposited in a puncture, although several may be placed in a single fruit. From one to eight eggs may be deposited daily by an individual female, which may be continued for several months. The great majority of the eggs, however, are deposited by the end of eight weeks. These eggs hatch in from three to seven days, being influenced greatly by the weather.

The egg hatches into a larva, or "worm," which bores into the fruit. It becomes full-grown in from twelve to twenty days and bores out of the fruit. It enters the soil, burrows to a depth of one-half to two inches, and forms an earthern cell in which to pupate. In three or four weeks it emerges as a full grown beetle and attacks the ungathered fruit and the foliage. On the approach of cold weather the beetle seeks a protected place in which to pass the winter.

The character of the injury is very nearly alike in all fruits. In the plum the fruit often falls to the ground before mature. In seasons of short crops very little fruit may remain to ripen. The punctures cause the fruit to become mis-shaped and to exude masses of gum. The ripe fruit becomes "wormy." The late varieties may be seriously injured by the new generation of adults. In the apple the injury to the fruit is about the same as in the plum, except that the infested fruit is not so likely to fall to the ground and that the egg rarely hatches into the grub there. The fruit becomes knotted and pitted. The late varieties may also be injured by the new generation of adults. In the peach, cherry and other stone fruits, the injury closely resembles that of the plum.

Although the plum curculio has some natural enemies that tend to reduce its numbers somewhat, yet they are not important enough to be considered as effective means of control. Some of these natural enemies are parasites of various kinds, birds, chickens and the like.

There are several remedial measures practiced, varying in their degree of effectiveness. Away back in the early days of horticulture in this country, when the curculio became very abundant rewards were offered for an effective method of combating it. Several were proposed, but only a few were at all effective. The best of these methods is what is called "jarring."

The curculio has the habit of falling to the ground and "playing 'possum" when disturbed. This led to the practice of holding or spreading sheets beneath the tree and then striking the tree a sudden, forcible blow with a padded pole or mallet in order to dislodge the beetles. The trees were jarred daily from the time the calyx or "shuck" began to slip from the newly set fruit until the beetles had disappeared, or for at least four or five weeks. This was practiced to quite an extent, but it takes too much time and is too expensive.

A still better remedy is clean cultivation. Experiments have shown that as high as 76.75 per cent. of the pupae may be destroyed by means of thorough cultivation. The mere breaking of the pupal cell, leaving the earth in contact with the body of the pupa, is fatal to many. Others are killed by the crushing action of the earth as it is stirred. Others are exposed to the elements and subject to the attacks of their enemies, such as ants and birds. Sunlight is quickly fatal to them, and exposure to the air on a warm day in the shade is also fatal to them. Observations show that the insect is in the pupal condition in the ground in from fifty to sixty-five days after the falling of the blossoms of such fruit as apples and plums. Data have been presented to show that the minimum time spent in the ground is about twenty days. Shallow cultivation should begin, therefore, in about eight or nine weeks after blossoming. It is best to cultivate every week or oftener for six or seven weeks. It is very necessary that this cultivation should reach immediately beneath the spread of the limbs, as most of the curculios are found here, having dropped from the fruit above and burrowed into the soil where they fell.

The third method of combating the curculio, the method most commonly used and most generally recommended, is spraying with arsenical poisons. The spray most generally used is arsenate of lead. The most economical and effective way is to add arsenate of lead to Bordeaux mixture. The Bordeaux is mixed in the following proportions: three pounds of copper sulphate (blue vitriol), four pounds of lime, and fifty gallons of water. To this amount of Bordeaux mixture three pounds of arsenate of lead are added. In place of Bordeaux mixture lime-sulphur may be used. If the insecticide is used alone, three pounds of arsenate of lead in fifty gallons of water make an effective spray. It is best to spray three times, the first spraying coming just before the blossoms open, the second coming ten days later, and the third another ten days later. The cost is from ten to fifteen cents per tree for the three sprayings. This cost is lessened when combined with other sprays.

While spraying greatly reduces the injuries inflicted, yet it is apparent that account must be taken of other factors, such as the relative abundance of insects as compared with the amount of fruit present on the trees. With a small fruit crop and an abundance of curculios, the most thorough spraying in the world will not serve to bring through a satisfactory amount of sound fruit.

While spraying is undoubtedly the most important aid and, if persisted in from year to year, may answer for its control, as its effects are cumulative, yet it is clear that other control measures should also be employed. In all cases which have come under observation the insects have always been found most abundant in orchards which are in sod or are poorly cared for and allowed to grow up more or less in weeds and trash. Also, orchards near woods always suffer severely, especially along the border. As opposed to this condition is the notably less injury in orchards kept free from weeds and trash. In such cases spraying usually given for other insects, as the codling moth, serves to keep the curculio well under control. In fact, it may be said as a general statement that the curculio will never become seriously troublesome in orchards given the usual routine attention in cultivation, spraying and pruning now considered essential in successful fruit growing. Serious losses from the curculio are almost conclusive evidence of neglect, which is best and most quickly corrected by the adoption of proper orchard practice.

* * * * *

AN ANTIDOTE FOR WASP STINGS.—It not infrequently happens that persons biting unguardedly into fruit in which a wasp is concealed receive stings in the mouth or throat. Such stings may be exceedingly dangerous and even fatal since the affected tissues swell rapidly and this is liable to cause difficulty in swallowing and breathing. An effective antidote is employed in Switzerland. The sting is rubbed vigorously with garlic, or, if it is too deep in the throat for this treatment, a few drops of the juice from bruised garlic are swallowed. If garlic is not to be obtained onion may take its place, but is a less active agent. The efficacy of this simple remedy was verified by a Swiss specialist, who found it important enough to be presented at a session of the Vaudois Society of Medicine.



Increasing the Fertility of the Land.

PROF. F. J. ALWAY, DIVISION OF SOILS, UNIVERSITY FARM, ST. PAUL.

I have been asked to speak on "Increasing the Fertility of the Land." To speak on such a subject is sometimes a rather delicate matter because some people consider they have a soil so good that you can't increase its fertility. With some of the prairie soils, when they were first plowed up that wouldn't have been so very far amiss. Take those black prairie soils with the grayish yellow clay subsoil, with an abundance of lime in it, which you find in a large part of the state, including a large part of Hennepin County, and you have as good a soil as you may expect to find anywhere on the earth's surface. But you can't keep a soil up to its full limit of fertility, no matter how good it is, unless you frequently treat it with something.



When a soil is well supplied with lime there are three things that are liable to be deficient. If it is not well supplied with lime there may be four, but the bulk of your soils are good enough so far as lime is concerned. Those three are potash, which is abundant and will be abundant 100 years from now, phosphoric acid, or phosphorus, with which our soils are fairly well supplied, and nitrogen, which comes from the vegetable matter. In nitrogen our prairie soils are remarkably rich when first plowed up. The phosphoric acid and the potash you can not lose unless they are taken away in the form of crops, but the nitrogen may be lost without even taking off crops. All you have to do is to cultivate your soil, when part of the nitrogen becomes soluble in water and is carried down by the rain into the water-table unless you have plants growing with roots to take it up; a large part escapes into the air. So when your black prairie soil has been under cultivation for twenty years, as an orchard, usually from one-half to one-third of the original nitrogen has escaped, most of it into the air, only the smaller part being carried off in the crops. That is the one thing that orchardists and horticulturists have to concern themselves about first of all, so far as soil fertility is concerned.

I see that the first of the questions for me to answer deals with that. "What crop do you consider the best green manure?" There are two kinds of green manures. One is represented by rye. Rye takes up the nitrogen that is in the soil, and when it dies leaves behind what it took out of the soil; the next crop can get this. By plowing under the rye crop you do not increase the amount of nitrogen, the most important element of fertility in the soil.

We have a better green manure than that, better than rye or oats or barley or any of those plants that properly belong to the grass family; namely, the members of the clover, bean or pea family—all of these plants which are called legumes, which have pods and which have flowers shaped like butterflies.

As these grow they take up nitrogen from the air; the bacteria which make their home on the roots of those plants take the nitrogen from the air and give it to their host plants. The plants receive this nitrogen, store it in themselves, and when the crop is plowed under you have a great amount of nitrogen added to the soil. Now, a clover crop of an acre growing from spring until the freeze-up in the fall may take out of the air as much as 120 pounds of nitrogen. One hundred and twenty pounds of nitrogen, bought in the form of commercial fertilizer from Swift & Company, or Northrup, King & Company, would cost you $24.00. The clover has taken that much out of the air. If the crop were pastured off, the greater part of this nitrogen would be returned to the soil; when you plow the clover under still more nitrogen is taken from the air by bacteria that live upon the decaying plant material, and you may have $48.00 worth of nitrogen per acre added to the soil by simply growing clover for one year.

Any kind of green manure crop that bears pods is good. Vetches are good, and soy beans are among the best for orchards. Clover, if you give it time to make a good growth, is as good as anything.

The next question is—"Should apple raisers use commercial fertilizers?" Now, the apple tree, when it is growing on good soil, makes such a vigorous root development that it is hard to get any commercial fertilizer to help it. On poor soils it, like any other kind of plant, will respond to fertilizers. Some of the eastern experimental stations have been carrying on investigations with commercial fertilizers for a great many years to see whether in apple orchards these will cause an increase in the yield or an improvement in the quality of the fruit. On good soils, even after ten or twelve years' fertilization they have been found to have no effect except in the case of nitrogen, and this can be better supplied in the form of a green manure plowed under than in any other way. That is to say, keep your orchard clean until the last of July or first of August, sow your green manure crop, let it grow until freeze-up and stay there during the winter time. It holds the snow and so affords some winter protection. In the spring plow it under, and you plow under all the nitrogen that the plants had collected the previous year. Then keep your orchard clean during the summer time, until in July or August you again sow the green manure crop.



The fertilizers that I get more inquiries about than any others are the phosphates—bone meal, acid phosphate and rock phosphate. Horticulturists have read that striking results are being obtained with these on certain crops in the eastern and central states, and they want to know whether the same fertilizers will pay here. Some inquire about potash fertilizers. With the latter there is no doubt but that the results we would obtain would, even under ordinary circumstances, not pay. At the present time potash costs about ten times what it does in times of peace. Sulphate of potash, which ordinarily brings $45.00 per ton, is now quoted at $450. This puts its use out of the question.

The phosphoric acid fertilizers are no higher now than usual. They cost, according to the kind, from $9.50 to $25.00 per ton. Some of them are produced near here—in South St. Paul. With tree crops, apple, plum and pear, we need expect no increased yield from the use of phosphates, unless it be on our very poorest soils. On certain crops, like the bush fruits—the currants and the raspberries, we might get a distinct benefit. I cannot give a definite answer to that. I can tell you what results they have obtained in New York state, what they have obtained in Pennsylvania or Illinois or Maine, but what results we would get in Minnesota we do not know. We can't apply their results to our conditions. The only thing we can do is to carry on such experiments here, and they have not yet been started. That brings me to a third question I have here.

"What experiments are being conducted by the University of Minnesota with orchard and other horticultural crops?" We realized the importance of this matter and plans were prepared. Then, as you know the last legislature was economical. It decided that one of the best places to make a cut would be in the funds for experimental work; when these funds were reduced we not only could start no new experiments but even had to cut off some of the old ones. For that reason these fertilizer experiments have to wait until the next legislature or the one after. I hope the next legislature will make such an appropriation that they may be begun.

Now, for the next question. A man states that he can secure at a very low rate limestone from one of the Minneapolis companies producing crushed limestone for road-making purposes and wants to know whether it will pay him to haul it to his farm. Well, if you do not have any other work for your teams it may pay you. However, if your time is valuable, you had better take some samples of the soil and send them in to the experiment station. Just address them to the Soils Department or Soils Division. Then we can decide whether it is worth while trying some of the limestone. We cannot tell you whether it will pay; we can tell you whether it is likely to pay, or whether it is likely to be a waste of energy, or whether it is so doubtful that you ought to give it a fair trial. On perhaps two-thirds of the fields in Hennepin County it would be a waste of money and energy; on about half of the others, we may say, it is almost certain to be a good investment at a dollar a ton. On the remaining portion we simply can't say. On these, chances are even whether it would pay. No crops are injured by limestone, so you are safe in putting it on. Practically all crops are benefited by it on sour soils and especially the vegetable crops.

The next question is—"Are the black peat or muck soils first class? Do they need anything besides drainage?" Some of them, a very few, produce really good crops when they are drained, plowed and brought under ordinary cultivation without fertilization, but only a few. Nearly all of them need commercial fertilizer, and until a bog covered with peat soil has been carefully examined to ascertain the depth of the peat, the difficulty of drainage, and the character of the peat (because peats differ greatly within a few miles of each other) it is unwise to attempt to reclaim it. Within three miles of the experiment station we have three bogs very different in character. One, about half a mile from the buildings, is heavily charged with lime. Another has an exceedingly small quantity of lime so that profitable crop production of any kind would be out of the question without a heavy application of ground limestone or quicklime. Still another one stands between these two. One of them can be reclaimed without any great expense, but with the one it would be a very expensive matter to fertilize and treat with lime after it had been drained.

Those are the questions that have been given me. Are there any other questions?

Mr. McCall: What is peat lacking in?

Mr. Alway: Practically all peats are lacking in potash. If the peat layer be very shallow, six inches, twelve inches, sometimes even twenty-four inches, the plants are able to get their roots down through the peat and get their potash from the underlying clay or loam. In that case no fertilizer is needed. Some of the peats lack lime, some of them lack lime, potash and phosphoric acid, and some these three and nitrogen also, so that you either have to apply some commercial form of nitrogen or grow legumes as green manures.

Mr. Kellogg: What was the trouble where I couldn't raise strawberries on new wood soil?

Mr. Alway: I couldn't answer that.

Mr. Kellogg: The leaf mold was six or eight inches deep.

Mr. Alway: Was it any deeper than that?

Mr. Kellogg: I don't know, it may have been down a foot, and the leaf mold had been accumulating there for ages.

Mr. Alway: In some cases the peat is so thoroughly decayed that it looks like leaf mold and it may be a foot or two feet deep.

Mr. Kellogg: This was no peat, it was just wood soil. I could not raise anything—

Mr. Alway: Did the plants grow?

Mr. Kellogg: Yes, the plants grew and wintered well but didn't bear worth a cent.

Mr. Alway: Did they make lots of runners?

Mr. Kellogg: Oh, fairly good, but right over the fence in the next field that had been worked for twenty-five years I got 260 bushels of strawberries to the acre; never had any manure on it.

Mr. Alway: The more leaf mold the more nitrogen; if you have too much nitrogen it may develop the vine and fail to form fruit or seed.

Mr. Ludlow: On heavy black prairie soil, three feet deep, where I am growing eighty bushels of corn to the acre, I want to put in strawberries, and I have a lot of wood ashes, dry wood ashes, not leached ashes, but dry wood ashes. Would it be worth while to put that on or would that overdo the thing? Would it be policy to put that on?

Mr. Alway: It is not likely to do any harm, and it is likely to do some good. Wood ashes contain chiefly lime and potash. The potash will be a distinct benefit. The lime isn't of any particular benefit to this crop on most soils. For strawberries it is slightly harmful on our ordinary soils that are originally well supplied with lime.

Mr. Ludlow: On another piece a ways from that I put out a young orchard, and in order to start the trees well I had covered the ground half an inch deep with wood ashes around those trees. I noticed that the weeds grew there twice as quick as they did when I got away from the wood ashes.

Mr. Alway: There you have the benefit of the potash and the lime. If you put lime in the orchards it will make the clover and most of the other green manure crops grow better, and thus you gain in nitrogen from the lime; you gain in potash as it comes from the wood ashes.

Mr. Brackett: Have you ever found any ground with too much leaf mold on it to grow good strawberries?

Mr. Alway: I have not.

Mr. Brackett: I remember when I broke out my place where I am living now I had a place where the leaves had collected and rotted until I would say there was eight or ten inches of leaf mold. When you went across it you would sink in almost to your shoe tops. On that piece of ground I grew 11,000 quarts of strawberries to the acre in a year, the largest yield I had ever grown on that leaf mold. You can never get too much leaf mold. There must have been something else besides the leaf mold.

Mr. Alway: In case a crop does not give a satisfactory yield it may be due to other things than the soil, and until we eliminate the other possible causes we can't safely blame it to the soil.

Mr. Moyer: What do those black soils in the western part of the state need? They have a whitish deposit on top.

Mr. Alway: Drainage. That is alkali.

Mr. Kochendorfer: I have a ten-year apple orchard that I disked last year and kept it tolerably clean this spring. There were a lot of dandelions sprung up that I mowed down the middle of July, and since then they have grown up again. Will they take nitrogen the same as clover?

Mr. Alway: They won't take any from the air. They will act like so much rye, but when they die and decay nitrogen will be gathered from the air and added to the soil by bacteria that live upon the decaying vegetable matter.

Mr. Kellogg: Did you ever hear of them dying?

Mr. Alway: Dandelions? If they are plowed under.

A Member: Is it practicable to grow soy beans in this soil? Can they be gotten at a reasonable price, and can we mature them here?

Mr. Alway: They mature here without any serious difficulty. There are a great many different varieties. If you order them from a distant seed house you may get a variety that will mature in Louisiana but not in Minnesota.

A Member: How about cowpeas?

Mr. Alway: Cowpeas are disappointing thus far north. In Minnesota they are not nearly as satisfactory as the soy bean. In an unusually warm summer they are satisfactory.

A Member: With the soy bean do you have to plow in the whole of it?

Mr. Alway: Yes. The whole plant ought to be plowed under.

A Member: Would it be practicable to feed soy beans in an orchard?

Mr. Alway: Yes. You don't get quite the same benefit from the green manure when you pasture as when you plow under.

A Member: How about the hairy vetch? Does it grow here?

Mr. Alway: Yes. It grows here. It is not a bad crop at all.

* * * * *

POISONING TREE SCALE.—We take the following from Scientific American as worth consideration by the owners of orchards and lawns:

A correspondent in Science relates the following rather startling experiment in killing tree scale by poisoning the sap of the tree. He says:

"I have in my ground a plant of Spanish broom about a dozen years old and with a trunk about four inches in diameter which has for several years been seriously infested by cottony cushion scale (Icerya purchasi). I have tried various sprays, have put scale-eating beetles on the tree, and at one time cut all the branches off and sprayed the trunk several times in the attempt to get permanently rid of this scale, but up to last winter it seemed that all attempts were in vain. In February of this year, when the broom was very thickly covered with the scale, I bored a three-eighths inch hole in the trunk to a depth of about three inches, filled the hole nearly full of crystals of potassic cyanide, and plugged it up. In two days the scale began to fall from the tree and in a few days all appeared dead. Others hatched and attacked the tree, but lasted only a short time, and the tree has since been free from scale and very vigorous."



NOTICE OF SUMMER MEETING, 1916

A JOINT SESSION OF THE MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY AND ITS AUXILIARIES, THE MINNESOTA STATE GARDEN FLOWER SOCIETY, THE MINNESOTA STATE BEE KEEPERS SOCIETY AND THE MINNESOTA STATE FLORISTS SOCIETY.

Will be held FRIDAY, JUNE 23rd, 1916, in the Gymnasium, at University Farm, St. Paul.

THE GYMNASIUM BUILDING in which this meeting is to be held has recently been constructed and only finished suitable for the uses of this gathering within the past year. The grounds about it are still in part in an unfinished condition. Directly south of this building are the football grounds, originally a marshy tract, now filled in and leveled off, with hillsides sloping upwards some thirty to forty feet on either side, well shaded. These slopes would be excellent places for the picnic dinner and the afternoon session except for the fact that they have recently been seeded and are not yet in condition for use. The main room in the gymnasium building, which is a very large room—at least three times as large as the one occupied by our exhibit last year—will be used for the fruit and flower display, and exhibitors can have access to this hall early in the forenoon, though visitors will be barred from the exhibition hall until 12:00 m. to give ample opportunity for placing and judging the display.

The exhibition will remain in place undisturbed until 9:00 o'clock p.m. The flowers will be distributed to the various hospitals in the Twin Cities.

THE PREMIUM LIST accompanying this notice is practically the same as last year, there being only a few minor changes, to which it will not be necessary to refer here. The season, up to the time of writing this notice at least, having been a favorable one we are anticipating a large display of flowers, probably the finest ever shown at any of our summer gatherings, and as the weather is always pleasant on the occasion of our summer meeting a large gathering of members and visitors is also assured.

DEMONSTRATIONS.—There will be a number of demonstrations at the farm, one by Prof. Francis Jager, the apiculturist, at 11:30 o'clock, at the Apiary Building. No special subject has been announced for this, but it is certain to be a profitable occasion for those interested in bee culture. Professors connected with the entomological and pathological departments will conduct experiments in spraying at some point near the Main Building. Undoubtedly there will be other demonstrations, which may be announced before the meeting or in regard to which announcements will be found posted at the gymnasium.

GUIDES TO THE GROUNDS.—Guides will be in attendance to escort visitors about the grounds to various points of interest. These guides will be prepared to answer questions pertaining to the various branches of educational work at the farm. Those who wish to take advantage of this service will meet the guides at the gymnasium at 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. The guides will wear suitable badges.

PICNIC DINNER.—In regard to the picnic dinner, which will occupy the time between noon and 2:00 o'clock, we are not quite sure as to where it will be held, but probably near the dining hall. Should the weather be unfavorable of course there is plenty of room inside the gymnasium building. Lemonade, ice cold, will be provided in quantity at the gymnasium building to meet the needs of the picnickers.

AFTERNOON MEETING.—At 2:00 p.m. the afternoon session of the meeting will be held at some point in or around the gymnasium building, depending on the weather at that time and somewhat also on the weather between now and then as to the condition the grounds may be in.

REACHING THE GROUNDS.—Take the Como-Harriet or Como-Hopkins car in either St. Paul or Minneapolis, get off at Doswell Avenue, and a walk of approximately one-half mile will bring you to University Farm grounds. To reach the gymnasium go north on Cleveland Avenue, which is the avenue running along the west side of University Farm, past the University Farm buildings until you come to the last building, which you will recognize as the gymnasium by its size. The grounds between Cleveland Avenue and the gymnasium are in an unfinished condition, but visitors will readily find their way across. If you prefer to ride all the way to the grounds get off at Eustis Avenue, which the conductor will point out to you. From that place cars run every fifteen minutes into the Farm grounds, an extra fare of five cents being charged. Ask the conductor to let you off at the gymnasium building, which you will reach from the street car after a short walk over ground still ungraded and where no special path has been provided. Getting off at that point, however, saves a long walk from the terminal station. If in doubt as to the way, follow the sign of the arrow.

VISIT TO STATE FRUIT-BREEDING FARM.—This farm is located at Zumbra Heights, twenty-two miles west of Minneapolis on the Minneapolis and St. Louis railroad. The train leaves depot at 8:35 a.m. Return can be made by way of Zumbra Heights landing on Lake Minnetonka and the lake steamers via trolley line to Minneapolis, or by waiting until mid-afternoon a train can be secured returning to the city on the railroad. One or more of the professors will go out Saturday morning, June 24th, to accompany any who may desire to take advantage of this opportunity to visit the Fruit Breeding Farm in a body. There are many things of interest there, the special timely feature at this season being the fruiting of a large field of No. 3 strawberries, which variety gives promise of being the coming commercial berry of the Northwest.

ENTRIES.—All entries must be received by the secretary not later than Monday, June 19th. No entries whatever will be received at the meeting. The exhibitors are urged to send in their entries at as early a date as possible, under no circumstances later than the date noted above. Entry blanks will be furnished by the secretary on application.

EXHIBITS.—All exhibits must be in place and properly labeled by 11:30 a.m. to compete for premiums. The exhibitors must be members of the society and growers of the articles exhibited. Any one may become a member upon payment of the annual fee of $1.00.

Fruits and flowers shown become the property of the association.



Premium List, Summer Meeting, 1916.

No Duplicating of Varieties Permitted.

OUT-DOOR ROSES.

1st prem. 2d prem. 3d prem. 4th prem.

Collection—three blooms of each named variety, to be shown in separate vases $6.00 $4.00 $2.00 $1.00

Collection of named varieties—three blooms of each, in separate vases, amateurs only 6.00 4.00 2.00 1.00

Three named varieties, white—each variety in a separate vase, three blooms of each, each bloom on a separate stem 2.00 1.00 .50

Three named varieties, pink—each variety in a separate vase, three blooms of each, each bloom on a separate stem 2.00 1.00 .50

Three named varieties, red—each variety in a separate vase, three blooms of each, each bloom on a separate stem 2.00 1.00 .50

Collection of Rugosa and Rugosa Hybrids—each variety (consisting of one cluster of blooms on a single stem) in a separate vase 2.00 1.00 .50

Most beautiful rose in vase 1.00

Largest rose in vase 1.00 Seedling rose to be shown by the originator. (Not previously exhibited in competition.) Bronze medal donated by the American Rose Society. Basket of out-door roses and foliage, arranged for effect without ribbon, not to exceed twelve inches in diameter 3.00 2.00 1.00

The following named varieties of roses to be entered separately and shown in separate vases, three to five blooms in each vase.

Prince Camile deRohan, General Jacqueminot, Margaret Dickson, M.P. Wilder, Jules Margottin, Magna Charta, Paul Neyron, Madam Gabriel Luizet, Baroness Rothschild, Anna de Diesbach, Ulrich Brunner, John Hopper, Rosa Rugosa (pink and white), Baron deBonstetten, Karl Druski, Madam Plantier, Grus an Teplitz.

Each, 1st prem., 75 cents; 2nd prem., 50 cents; 3rd prem., 25 cents.

PEONIES.

1st prem. 2d prem. 3d prem. 4th prem. Vase of Festiva Maxima. 6 blooms $2.00 $1.00 $0.50 " " flesh or light pink " " " " " " " medium or dark pink " " " " " " " white " " " " " " " red " " " " "

Collection—three blooms of each named variety in separate vases $6.00 $4.00 $2.00 $1.00

Collection—three blooms of each named variety in separate vases, amateurs only 6.00 4.00 2.00 1.00

Seedling peony, three blooms 3.00 2.00 1.00 .50

Collection—one bloom of each variety, shown each in a separate vase; for amateurs owning no more than ten varieties 2.00 1.00 .50

ANNUALS AND PERENNIALS.

Vase of Arabis $1.50 $1.00 $0.50 " " Canterbury Bells " " " " " Dielytra " " " " " Delphinium " " " " " Evening primrose (Oenothera) " " " " " Forget-me-not " " " " " Foxglove " " " " " Gailardias " " " " " Grass pinks " " " " " Iceland poppies " " " " " Iris " " " " " Lillies " " " " " Lupine " " " " " Nasturtiums " " " " " Oriental poppies " " " " " Pansies " " " " " Perennial coreopsis " " " " " Pyrethrum " " " " " Shasta daisies " " " " " Sweet peas " " " " " Sweet william " " "

Collection—named perennials, in separate vases $6.00 $4.00 $2.00 $1.00

Collection of annuals and perennials in separate vases (not to exceed 12) by amateurs who have never taken premiums on flowers 4.00 3.00 2.00 1.00

Vase of flowers grown and exhibited by child 2.00 1.00 .50

Vase of any kind of flowers not named in this list. (An exhibitor may make any number of entries desired under this head) 2.00 1.00 .50

Vase of flowers arranged for artistic effect 1.50 1.00 .50

Basket of outdoor-grown flowers, arranged by exhibitor 3.00 2.00 1.00

STRAWBERRIES.

One quart of each variety to be shown on plate, not in box.

1st prem. 2d prem. 3d prem. 4th prem.

Collection (not less than six varieties) $5.00 $4.00 $3.00 $2.00

Collection of three named varieties 3.00 2.00 1.00 .50

The following varieties of strawberries to be entered separately:

1st prem. 2d prem. 3d prem. 4th prem.

Bederwood, Dunlap, Cresent, Splendid, Clyde, Warfield, Lovett, Enhance, Glen Mary, Haverland, Progressive, Superb, Americus, each 1.00 $0.75 $0.50 $0.25

Best named variety not included in the above list 2.00 1.00 .50

Seedling's, originated by exhibitor 3.00 2.00 1.00



GARDEN HELPS

Conducted by Minnesota Garden Flower Society

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

Photographic contest—Open to all members of the Garden Flower Society.

Class I. Photograph showing best garden arrangement or planting effect. List of flowers and shrubs to accompany picture.

First prize—Twenty-five perennial plants.

Second prize—Twelve iris.

Class II. Photograph showing individual plant in bloom. A growing plant in bloom will be preferred to one in a vase.

First prize—Twenty-five perennial plants.

Second prize—Twelve iris.

Class III. Photograph showing wild flower in bloom. Directions governing Class II to be followed.

First prize—Twenty-five perennial plants.

Second prize—Twelve dahlia tubers.

Any number of pictures may be entered in each class, but only one prize in each class will be given an exhibitor.

When possible have photographs 5x7 inches or 4x5 inches, although size will not bar an otherwise meritorious picture. Photographs in Classes I and II should be confined to the garden of the exhibitor.

All pictures are to be in the hands of our secretary by November first, and are to become the property of the society. The prizes will be delivered the following spring. The pictures will be on exhibition at our annual meeting in December.

* * * * *

These directions in The Garden Magazine are so good they are quoted verbatim:

NEXT TO SEED PLANTING the most important part of the gardener's work is skill in the technique of transplanting. How often do you hear concerning some gardener, that if he "only touches a thing, it is bound to live?" There is no "king's touch" in the garden game. People who "love" plants are more successful with them, merely because such persons take greater care in handling them. The first essential in transplanting is to have good plants. They should be well hardened off (see March Reminder, covering cold-frames); this applies to plants in flats and in pots even more than to those growing in frames. In buying plants, select stocky, compact, dark colored ones in preference to very large ones.

PREPARE THE SOIL as carefully as though you intended to sow seeds. Mark out the rows, and if fertilizer is to be used, mix it thoroughly with the soil before beginning transplanting. Then prepare the plants carefully. Unless they are very small, cut back the largest leaves about one-half with an old pair of scissors. With a small trowel or an old knife, cut them out of the frame or flat in which they are growing, keeping as much soil as possible with each. (If not in flats, cut them out as you use them in the garden.) If they are in pots, knock them out carefully and pack into flat for convenience in handling. Paper pots, which produce the best plants, are not removed before planting. Water thoroughly the day before planting, so that the soil will be in the best condition for handling; but for several days before planting, it is well to keep the plants "on the dry side," as they will then re-establish themselves more quickly when set out.

(To be continued)



ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES

By F. L. WASHBURN, Professor of Entomology.

University of Minnesota.

A SILVER PRUNE IN BLOOM AT MINNETONKA.

May 19, 1916.—The writer has a small silver prune grafted on hardy root, which he obtained from Mr. Arrowood, Nevis, Minn., now in bloom at his experimental garden at Minnetonka—not many flowers, it is true, but in bloom just the same. This tree is not more than two feet high, and was somewhat protected by a rabbit protector and high snow. Other plums in the Entomologist's orchard, (one acre) are now nearly full of bloom: Hanska, Skuya, Opata and other Hansen hybrids, as well as trial plums from the University fruit breeding farm.

We have top worked this spring Hibernals, and Patten's Greenings with Stark's Delicious, Grimes Golden, King David and Johnathan.

One-half of this land slopes sharply to the north and the other half more gently to the south, clay, loam with clay subsoil, offering favorable conditions for orchard work as well as work with grapes, small fruits and vegetables.

Of grapes we have started Concord, Worden, Moore's Early, Agawam, Brighton, Iona, Lindley, Salem, Barry, Herbert, Isabella, Green Mountain, and others.

We have even had the temerity to try Loganberries from the Pacific coast, and have some in fruit at present. A heavy covering of soil next winter will possibly protect these plants during the cold weather.

THE WHITE PINE BLISTER RUST IN MINNESOTA.

This disease has just been found on a few White Pines in two Minnesota nurseries. The trees in one of these nurseries came from Wisconsin, shipped into that state from the east. Absolute identification has been furnished by the Plant Pathology Division of the Agricultural College. The state entomologist has already in the field a force of men who will inspect every nursery in the state where white pines are grown.

THE ENGLISH SPARROW PEST.

We have experienced some success in the use of a sparrow trap, catching from 11 to 25 in half a day. It must be noted, however, that this does not occur every day, and further, that the young birds are most easily caught. Both old and young evidently learn to avoid the trap. Another party who has used this trap also reports success even greater than ours. Other parties report an average catch of ten birds a day for nearly four months. One can also, if on a farm, resort to shooting them singly, or, better, when gathered together feeding. In fact, they may be baited with grain for a few days (preferably in the fall or winter) and previous to the use of the shotgun. This accustoms them to gathering in a close flock. Eggs and nests may be repeatedly destroyed, if placed within reach. A well-directed stream of water from a hose is helpful in making them desert their roosts, at least for a while.

Dearborn (Farmers' Bulletin No. 493, U.S. Dept. of Agr.) describes a nest-box trap. Sparrows may also be poisoned, but this calls for extreme care. In this case it is interesting to learn that one experimenter fed a large number of sparrows killed by poisoning to a pet cat with no ill effects to the latter.

We have picked them from cornices upon our house at dusk with the aid of a small collecting gun or pistol, firing a very light charge of shot, but found that the shot marred the house, and were therefore obliged to discontinue the practice.

In addition to trapping sparrows with approved sparrow traps the following recipe has recently come to our notice:

"Feed good cracked corn a few days; then substitute poisoned cracked corn made as follows: Soak one quart of cracked corn in water; take it out and let it get about half dry. Dissolve one ounce of strychnia in hot water. Soak corn in this until it swells and then dry completely."



BEE-KEEPER'S COLUMN.

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

COMB HONEY, EXTRACTED HONEY, AND INCREASE.

(Continued from May No.)

Colonies run for comb honey are very much inclined to swarm. Swarming with the resulting division of forces is incompatible with profitable comb honey production. The colony must be kept together for best results. The following methods are used by well known beekeepers.

1. At the beginning of the honey flow let the colony cast a natural swarm. After hiving the bees on starters or full sheets of foundation and giving them a little brood to prevent them from swarming out again, the swarm is put in the place of the parent colony, which is removed to one side two or three feet. The seventh day the old colony is moved over to the opposite side of the swarm two or three feet. Two weeks after, all the bees are shaken in front of the swarm, and the hive with wax and honey removed. Thus the desire of bees for swarming has been satisfied, and the colony is still working together.

2. Make a shaken swarm. During the dandelion honey flow add an extracting super to your comb raising colony to give bees room to store. At the beginning of the honey flow set the whole hive a little aside and put a new bottom board on the place thus vacated. On this bottom board place the extracting super from your colony. Find the frame with the queen and put it in the middle of this new brood chamber, bees and all. Then shake all the bees from the old brood chamber into the new. The brood in the old hive thus left orphans may be piled up on top of some weaker colony in your yard who will take care of it. Five such supers with brood may be piled on top of one such colony, and they will be the strongest in the yard for storing extracted honey during the basswood or other late honey flow. This honey will be very handy for feeding your bees in the fall and spring. Now add a comb honey super to your shaken swarm. Add more supers when necessary, below before July 4th, on top after that date. Remove all comb honey supers at once at the end of the honey flow to have them white and clean.

3. When your colony is very strong at the beginning of the honey flow—about June 10th—remove the queen, either by killing her or by starting a new colony with her with two frames of brood. The seventh day cut out all queen cells but one—be sure not to leave two. This will re-queen your apiary, will prevent swarming for that season, will put a large number of bees into the field—there being no larvae to feed, will prevent thousands of bees from being hatched after they are of no use as gatherers of honey, and the honey needed for raising those bees will go into the supers.

(Continued in July No.)



SECRETARY'S CORNER

NOTICE OF SUMMER MEETING will be found on pages 257-259 of this magazine. Don't overlook it—and be sure to come. Great show of flowers and a fine day is assured—that is our record to date.

THE SECRETARY'S OFFICE during the summer month, will be open as usual except Saturday afternoon, but the secretary will be in regularly only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGISTS REPORT ON NURSERY INSPECTION in 1915 has been issued as circular No. 37. It contains a list of all inspected nurseries in the state; and also six full page photographs illustrating the nursery industry in Minnesota. Copies can be obtained by writing F.L. Washburn, St. Anthony Park, Minn.

A GOOD YIELD OF EVERBEARING STRAWBERRY PLANTS.—Mr. J. J. Kunkel, of Kimball, Minn., writes under date of May 13th: "The three everbearing strawberry plants I received of you in 1915 made about 250 young plants, of which I replanted this spring about 200. We had a few berries, but did not expect berries as we let all runners grow."

Who has done better than that in growing No. 1017 everbearing strawberry plants?

A FARMER ON THE BOARD OF REGENTS.—We are much pleased to note the appointment of a real farmer in the person of C. W. Glotfelter, of Waterville, as a member of the Board of Regents of the Minnesota State University. Mr. Glotfelter is well known throughout the state as late president of the Minnesota State Agricultural Society, and is at present occupying the same position with the Minnesota Crop Breeders' Association. He is a farmer in every sense, as he lives upon a farm which he has himself worked personally a great many years. We feel that the horticultural and agricultural interests of the state are especially well cared for by this board in having Mr. Glotfelter in its membership.

WYMAN ELLIOT'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE LIBRARY.—A short time since Mrs. Elliot, widow of the late Wyman Elliot, sent to this office as a contribution to our library all of the horticultural and agricultural books which belonged to Mr. Elliot. There were in all 397 volumes, nearly all of them bound in cloth. The larger portion of these were reports of other horticultural and agricultural societies, most of which the Horticultural Society already had in the library. There were, however, some forty or fifty very valuable reference books, or books on specific subjects of a horticultural character, and a considerable number of reports of other societies which we did not have, in all amounting to seventy-seven volumes. These have been placed mostly in two cases by themselves which will be marked with Mr. Elliot's name, and, of course, each one of these volumes has an inscription of similar character on the fly leaf. The remainder of these books, 320 in number, are being sent to University Farm library for use there as far as they need them, and they will be likely to know where to place to advantage any that they have no personal use for. There are plenty of libraries in the state that would be glad indeed to receive some of these volumes, and we hope that in this way Mr. Elliot's name will appear in the catalog of many of our public libraries.

NEW LIFE MEMBERS.—There have been quite a number of names added to the life membership roll of the society during the year 1916 and since the last public record was made of this sort. The names of the following persons have now been added to the permanent roll of the society: Ludvig Lima, Montevideo; Mrs. Florence Burlingame, Grand Rapids; A.L. Negstad, Arlington, S.D.; C. P. Bratnober, 1419 Harmon Place, Minneapolis; Miss Anna M. Johnson, Lafayette; H. J. Appleby, Minneiska; Hans M. Johnson, Pipestone; Christ Effertz, Norwood; O.J. Oyen, Watson; F.E. Older, California State Normal School, Los Angeles, Cal.; Erick Sparre, Elk River; E. H. Mazey, 3029 Ewing So., Minneapolis.

There is still room in this list for others, and why not instead of paying annual membership year after year make one payment and have done with it?

RESOLUTION ABOUT STATE FLOWER.—The following resolution was unanimously adopted at a meeting of the Minnesota Garden Flower Society, held during the annual session of the State Horticultural Society, in December last.

Resolved, That whereas, The State of Minnesota has adopted a state flower, which, on account of its being a native of the woods and bogs, is not generally known or recognized, and

Whereas, The State of Minnesota in 1893 adopted by legislative vote a state flag, which emblem is not generally known to the residents of the state, and believing that familiarity with the state flower and the state flag will do good and create loyalty to the state and union;

Be It Resolved, That we, the Minnesota State Horticultural Society, do hereby petition and pray the state legislature of Minnesota, to have printed an attractive picture of the state flower and the state flag, properly framed, and present it to the high schools of the state, with the request that it be placed upon the wall of their assembly room.

Also, that it be furnished free of cost, to such other public buildings as may be deemed advisable.

PROGRAM, "FARMERS' WEEK."—During "Farmers' Week" at University Farm, January 1-7, 1917, there will be scheduled several conferences which fruit and vegetable growers should find of value to them in their work. These conferences deal with all of the problems of the grower, but special afternoons are given to the small fruits, the tree fruits, and vegetables. Next January will be the third conference of the fruit growers, the second for the vegetable growers, and the first for the small fruit growers as a separate branch of the fruit work.

Mr. W. G. Brierly, Chairman of the Division of Horticulture, University Farm, is working on programs for these conferences for next January. He will be very glad to have any one interested write to him for information or to suggest topics for discussion. The program for the vegetable growers' conference will be drawn up by a joint committee from the St. Paul and Minneapolis vegetable growers, working with Mr. Brierly. The committee is planning to meet at the time of the summer meeting of the Horticultural Society and will, of course, welcome any suggestions as to topics and speakers.

These conferences are for all growers interested and are free to all. There has been some difficulty heretofore in that very few suggestions as to program have been offered by the growers themselves. If you have any problems or matters which you would like to have discussed at these conferences, now is the time to make your suggestions.



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 JULY, 1916 No. 5



My Neighbor's Roses

The roses red upon my neighbor's vine Are owned by him, but they are also mine, His was the cost, and his the labor, too, But mine, as well as his, the joy their loveliness to view.

They bloom for me, and are to me as fair As for the man who gives them all his care. Thus I am rich, because a good man grew A rose-clad vine for all his neighbors' view.

I know from this that others plant for me, And what they own, my joy may also be. So why be selfish, when so much that's fine Is grown for you, upon your neighbor s vine!

—Anon



SUMMER MEETING, 1916.

Minnesota State Horticultural Society

A Joint Session with its Auxiliaries, the Minnesota State Garden Flower Society, the Minnesota State Bee-Keepers Society and the Minnesota State Florists Society.

A. W. LATHAM, SECY.

There seems to be something almost uncanny in the unbroken sequence of pleasant days that have greeted the annual summer meeting of the Horticultural Society in the last quarter of a century. For days before this meeting it seemed assured that we should this year at least have an unpleasant day for our gathering, and even the day before and night before were most unfavorable. Friday morning, June 23rd, however, opened up bright and beautiful, warm and pleasant, as nature can smile, and continued so throughout the day. The meeting was in accord with these favorable circumstances, and I believe brought out more and better flowers and more, though no better, people, both as exhibitors and in attendance, than any previous similar gathering the association has held.

The exhibition was installed in the new gymnasium at University Farm, a room sufficiently large so that it not only accommodated the exhibition with wide aisle space, but also found plenty of room for the placing of chairs for the afternoon meeting. Tables were arranged around three sides of the hall, which were used for the displays of perennials and roses. The peonies were shown on several tables in the north center of the hall and besides these there were exhibits of some of the choicest of the peonies made upon the floor, so arranged that visitors could walk amongst them and look down upon them and see them at their best. One table was occupied with the strawberry exhibit, which, however, was a small one on account of the lateness of the season, though the Fruit-Breeding Farm showed some forty or fifty plates of No. 3, the new June-bearing berry of such large popularity, and a few everbearers. The number of entries was, I believe, in excess of any previous meeting, amounting altogether to 521. Most of the old exhibitors at our summer meeting were present and some few of the newer ones. The effort which was made this year to secure a completed exhibit at 11:30 proved to be a success, and by the lunch hour the judges had gotten well along with their work and the hall was opened to the public to inspect the display.

At 12:00 o'clock or thereabouts the members and their friends gathered upon the lawn near the station dining hall, where there were plenty of trees and green grass, and partook of the noon repast, for which purpose the station provided coffee and also lemonade, the latter a new feature in our bill of fare.

The regular afternoon meeting was held at 2:00 o'clock in the same hall in which the exhibit was placed. This was largely attended, some two or three hundred taking advantage of the opportunity to listen to those who found place on this extempore program. Our society reporter took some notes of what transpired at the meeting, but they were only partial notes, and what here follows in regard to what took place is only in the nature of extracts.

President Cashman was in the chair as usual and in a few words extended greeting to the society saying, amongst other things:

"This occasion is always looked forward to with a great deal of pleasure. We meet those engaged in similar lines of work, we discuss the problems with which we have to contend, our joys and our sorrows. We come here to meet our friends—and my experience has been that there are no truer or more loyal friends than those found amongst the horticulturists. The true horticulturist is a lover of nature, a lover of the beautiful and all that goes with it. He looks for nothing except the best that can be found in human kind. Such are the men and women that belong to the Horticultural Society."

As representing the University Farm, whose hospitality in a large sense the society was enjoying, Dean Woods gave us a hearty welcome in his happy way, and what follows is typical of the kindly things he said: "We always have pleasant days and pleasant memories because those who study flowers and fruits and the beauties of nature are the ones from whom one can get inspiration to understand and to know what nature means. Any one who can listen to the sounds of nature, any one who can see in flowers the spirit of life struggling upwards has the true spirit of the horticulturist and is always welcome here."

Mr. A. Brackett, of Excelsior, being called upon, had something to say about strawberry culture, and in the course of his remarks showed several plates of different varieties of strawberries. What follows is the substance of his talk on this subject. "We have here what we call the No. 3 strawberry produced at the Experimental Farm. I believe from my experience that it is going to take the place of all of our common June-bearing strawberries. It is a deep rooter, fine large plant and a nice, solid berry, and I have never seen any blight or rust on the plants. I think that it will pay for all the expense that has ever been paid out for the farm, that one berry will pay for it, it will be of that much value to the people of Minnesota. The everbearing strawberry has come to stay, and for private use you do not need to plant any other variety. The everbearing strawberry will ripen its fruit at least a week ahead of almost any other berry we have, and then it will continue bearing until the frost kills it. I had at least twenty bushels of fruit from my plants last year, and I secured from one-quarter acre fifty-three cases and sold them at $4.80 a case. They talk about what they can raise in California, but we can do better here, and I believe if you will stick to these three varieties, the Americus, Superb and Progressive, you will not need to plant any other variety. The Americus has the best flavor but it isn't as large. Of the Superb nearly all of the berries are large, very few small ones, but they haven't got the flavor.

"There is one thing about this new strawberry, it can not bear the year around, that is, during the summer, unless the ground is very rich. I think I put on one-half acre of the everbearing strawberries twenty-five loads of fertilizer. You have got to make the ground rich to carry these plants through and produce the berries. I use a narrow row on the hill system. I cut my rows down in the spring, dig up the plants and leave the row four inches wide and plants six inches apart. This brings more berries and better plants."

Prof. C. B. Waldron, of Fargo, N.D., horticulturist at the Fargo Agricultural College for a quarter century, who has rarely missed being with us at any summer gathering, being called upon, among other things said: "There are a good many things that affiliate people together in groups of one kind or another. It used to be that if people had the same belief about eternal punishment, etc., that they would group themselves together, but nowadays we find people grouping themselves according to more natural methods. I think people grouping themselves together for a common love of trees, fruits and flowers makes a more natural bond of affiliation, and when I find a man that knows the names of many of our beautiful flowers I feel drawn to him at once. I can't seem to tire of that person's company, no matter what political party he belongs to. These things that I speak of seem to be a more natural and harmonious relationship to build our friendship upon than almost anything else. I know that I always look forward days and weeks ahead to meetings like this, where I can meet with people who love and admire and cherish the things that I find my greatest delight in."

The superintendent of the Fruit-Breeding Farm, Mr. Chas. Haralson, spoke briefly of the work at the Fruit-Breeding Farm, which he is conducting with such distinguished success. His statement was altogether too brief when one knows the vast amount of detail work that is being done there in development of new fruits: "The work at the Fruit-Breeding Farm is carried on just the same as usual. We are working on strawberries, plums, apples, grapes somewhat and several other fruits like gooseberries and currants. The best success we have had so far in the new varieties is with strawberries, raspberries and plums. It takes only a few years to run through a generation of these, and we can get them selected quicker than apples. The plum crop is very light this year, especially on the hybrid plums, on account of winter-killing, that is, the buds killed during the winter. They never did that before, but this year they have done it to a great extent. The strawberry crop is very good and so are the raspberries now coming on. Probably as many as 2,000 apple seedling trees are bearing this year, so we will have a little chance for selection in the line of apples. In grapes we are working with most of the seedlings from the Beta and some hybrids, and we have a few of the Beta seedlings that are very good. One red variety compares favorably with any of the cultivated varieties. It is perfectly hardy so far. And we have two or three varieties of black nearly as large as Moore's Early or Concord.

"We also have a number of seedlings of pears, but we are not very far advanced with them yet. Pears stand the winter fairly well, although they winter-kill to a certain extent. When they are weakened through the winter and growth starts in the spring they blight. Blight is the worst part of our work with pears."

Prof. R. S. Mackintosh, of University Farm, was caught on the floor, and as usual took opportunity to tell people they ought to eat more apples and something about how to get them. This seems to be a subject that is ever in his mind and which he is persistently working to good advantage.

"You folks that are hungry and want apples or apple pie want to get busy about the middle of August and eat up your surplus apples in Minnesota. It is a shame that farmers, fruit growers, etc., have spent years trying to grow apples in Minnesota and then we cannot get enough people to eat the apples. We are going to carry on the clearing house as we did last year, and if you want apples let us know. We can grow apples the same as we can grow peonies and strawberries, but it is a little hard to get them distributed properly."

Mr. A. M. Brand, of Faribault, who had an extraordinary exhibit of seedling peonies at the meeting, pronounced by our peony expert, Mr. C.S. Harrison, "second to none in the world," was introduced and talked briefly along the line of seedling peony production, as follows: "There is a great deal of encouragement in what we have been able to accomplish down there at Faribault along the line of producing something fine in peonies. Sixteen years ago we started out with the idea of improving upon the stock that we already have. We had a little red peony, a very nice peony, originated by Mr. Terry down in Iowa, called Rachel, and starting out with that as a mother plant we have produced some of the finest roots that there are in cultivation. By using lots of the seed of Rachel we have been able to produce this Mary Brand, considered by many of the peony growers as one of the finest red peonies in the world. A great many people that raise nice peonies think they have to go to the trouble of hand fertilization. That isn't necessary. We started out with such varieties as Rachel, and by letting the bees and the elements do the fertilizing for us we were able to produce varieties like this. Here is the new seedling that we brought out this year and named Ruth—a pink peony. As a rule we plant about a peck of seed every year, and out of that peck of seed it probably brings us 10,000 seedlings, and out of this 10,000 we get one good seedling, and this is the only good seedling that we have produced this year. This is a seedling that comes from Rosa Fragrans. When we picked this seedling from the bed of seedlings we considered this the finest seedling that we had, and it has never come good from that time to this, and it is ten years since we have been trying this seedling, which will show you when you are growing seedlings that the first time a seedling blossoms and comes splendid you mustn't be too enthusiastic about it. The next year it may be worth nothing. You have got to try a seedling in every way to find out whether it is worth sending out. As a rule it takes us ten years from the time that a seedling first blossoms until we send it out. Ninety per cent of all the peony seedlings that you grow will be singles, one out of 10,000 seedlings will be fair and one out of 100,000 seedlings will be extra good—so you see that those which we have produced give us some encouragement. I wouldn't advise many of you to go into the seedling business, although you might produce one good seedling out of a handful of seed.

"If you plant a peony on the lawn you have to fertilize it heavily. You can't have your lawn right up to the stalks of the peony. If you want a peony on the lawn you must give it two feet of ground. Most of the peonies that are brought here are taken out of fields that are cultivated with a horse cultivator. If you want your flowers on the lawn and don't want to cultivate them you have to use lots of fertilizer. You must not use too much. Fertilize heavy about once in three years. Don't fertilize every fall. Fertilize in the fall, and the next spring spade the manure in and then don't use any manure for three or four years. Plant peonies any time from the first of September until the time it freezes up and plant any time in the spring until the growth starts on the plants. If you plant in the spring you are just six months ahead of planting in the following September, though September is really the best time to plant. If a peony clump becomes old, as large around as a tub, and you still want it to stand in the same place I would cut out half of the stalks as they come up, and then to get still larger blossoms after the stalks have come up I would pinch the side buds also."



Mrs. Crawford, of Indiana, a peony grower of much experience there, who came to Minneapolis for the purpose of attending our flower meeting, we understand, told us something about how peonies are grown in her section, an interesting and practical talk, part of which follows: "In Indiana we have a sour, black clay soil. We fertilize with crushed limestone and leaves. I fertilize with the leaves that fall in the autumn after the leaves have begun to rot. I cover them without cutting the tops. Then in the spring when they begin to bud we go over them on our knees and work the leaves all in with a trowel. I have 3,000 plants, but with the assistance of the men we have we get it done, and grow fine peonies. In regard to manure, I never feel that I can put any fertilizer within two feet. The rows are from three to four feet apart. We never use any fertilizer that will come in contact with the stems, as when the flowers are cut off it leaves the stem hollow, and if the manure gets in the stem it works down the stem into the roots and leaves a hollow root in time. We never use in our part of the state any fertilizer that will come in contact with the stems except leaves. When the streets are cleaned in the fall I pile the leaves on the back lot. I have fourteen or fifteen loads hauled in. This is scattered over the peonies. I want to compliment you on having very fine peonies, some of them finer than I have ever seen, and I hope you will all be as enthusiastic about raising peonies as I am. Is it necessary to burn the tops when they are cut off? I consider that the ashes from the tops aid in fertilizing. I pile them up in little piles and burn them and sprinkle the ashes over the peonies. Frequently when I dig around a peony and I feel that the soil has become exhausted I throw in a handful of garden peas, and when they get about a foot high I spade them under for fertilizer."

Mr. D. W. C. Ruff, of St. Paul, had a wonderful showing of peonies of named varieties, most of them very expensive from a money standpoint, they having cost him prices varying from $5.00 to $40.00 a root, and judging by the character of the flowers which he held up for the audience while he talked about them they were well worth the money. I regret that we are unable to give a verbatim report of his talk, with the names of the varieties, but this information must be secured from him at some later time. In part he said:

"I have spent the last fifteen years in making a good collection of peonies. I have gone all over the world for peonies and have brought together some of the finest peonies from all the noted growers and horticulturists. In my collection I have over 400 hundred varieties, that is, what I am growing at my home. I have brought here today of course a great many peonies of the later varieties. I have brought these here from an educational standpoint so that the people might see some of the rare ones that they might have heard about or read about and see them and know of these varieties. Last year I made an exhibit and showed hundreds of them. This year I have brought just a few choice things."

Rev. C. S. Harrison spoke in his usual inspiring way, but with such force and speed that our stenographer was unable to pick him up, which we sincerely regret. We all know Mr. Harrison as an enthusiast in flowers. He has met with us year after year at both annual gatherings. While he is eighty-three years old yet what he has to say and the way he says it still have the ring and inspiration of youth. He proposed the organization of a peony society for the Northwest, and a show of hands indicating there was material present to perfect such an organization the plans were laid therefor. Our reporter got this far:

"I have attended the national peony shows of Boston and New York, and they cannot hold a candle to your peonies, mark that! There is something in your soil and in your climate which brings them to the front."

Prof. F. L. Washburn was to tell us something about the white pine blister rust, but he failed to inflict upon us a long technical talk, and from what he said all the reporter got was this, from which however one could well judge what was in his thought. "We have found in Minnesota a disease on the white pine called the 'white pine blister rust.' One stage of this disease is on the gooseberry or currant, that is, we find it now on the white pine and going to the gooseberry or currant. We went to the governor, state treasurer and state auditor and obtained $1,000 for use in fighting this besides our regular appropriation."

Mr. J. M. Underwood, of Lake City, without whom the program would be incomplete, spoke a few closing words as follows: "We have had such a splendid program, and I know you are anxious to look at these beautiful flowers, and all I have time to say, and a disposition to say, is that I think we owe a great obligation to the Garden Flower Society, a splendid organization auxiliary to the State Horticultural Society. I think you ought to all be members of that Garden Flower Society. It is a wonderful working organization, and I think the ladies that are in charge of it deserve a great deal of credit and should be complimented as being foremost on the program. There is a great deal that I could say, but I know there isn't time for it, and I thank you."

In the meantime many more visitors had come into the hall to view the display, which continued on exhibition until 9:00 o'clock in the evening. Prof. Cady, who had general charge of the arrangements at the meeting, reports that at least one thousand people saw the display, and we think that it was well worth while to have kept it open until that hour. Representatives from a number of the hospitals were present after the meeting and took the flowers away to be used to cheer the sick in both Minneapolis and St. Paul.

The total amount of awards at this meeting were $178.75. A list of these awards with the names of the judges follows in a separate article. No one person took any large amount of premiums, they were well distributed amongst a dozen and a number of others who received smaller amounts. Mrs. H.B. Tillotson, who has a wonderful flower garden near Eureka, Lake Minnetonka, received premiums of $17.00, which is the largest amount paid to any one person, although there were a number of others who received slightly smaller amounts.



Award of Premiums, Summer Meeting, 1916.

ROSES.

Collection, B. T. Hoyt, St. Paul, fourth premium, $1.00. Collection named varieties, amateurs, Thos. Redpath, Wayzata, second premium, $4.00. Collection named varieties, amateurs, Mrs. H. B. Tillotson, Excelsior, First premium, $6.00. Collection named varieties, amateurs, Mrs. D. W. C. Ruff, St. Paul, third premium, $2.00. Three named varieties, white, Thos. Redpath, Wayzata, first premium, $2.00. Three named varieties, pink, Thos. Redpath, Wayzata, first premium, $2.00. Collection Rugosa and R. Hy., B. T. Hoyt, St. Paul, first premium, $2.00. Most beautiful rose, Mrs. H. B. Tillotson, Excelsior, first premium, $1.00. Largest rose, Mrs. D. W. C. Ruff, St. Paul, first premium, $1.00. Seedling, B. T. Hoyt, St. Paul, first premium, Bronze medal donated by American Rose Society. Basket outdoor roses arranged for effect, Mrs. H. B. Tillotson, Excelsior, first premium, $3.00. Basket outdoor roses arranged for effect, Mrs. D. W. C. Ruff, St. Paul, second premium, $2.00. Basket outdoor roses arranged for effect, Mrs. John Gantzer, St. Paul, third premium, $1.00. Mdm. Plantier, Thos. Redpath, Wayzata, first premium, $0.75. Gen. Jack, B. T. Hoyt, St. Paul, first premium, $0.75. Gen. Jack, Mrs. G. T. Brown, St. Paul, second premium, $0.50. Magna Charta, Mrs. G. T. Brown, St. Paul, first premium, $0.75. Ulrich Brunner, Mrs. G. T. Brown, St. Paul, first premium, $0.75. Baroness Rothschild, Mrs. G. T. Brown, St. Paul, first premium. $0.75. Mdm. Plantier, Mrs. G. T. Brown, St. Paul, second premium, $0.50.

AUG. S. SWANSON, Judge.

PEONIES.

Flesh or light pink, Mrs. Frank Moris, Lake Elmo, third premium, $0.50. Medium or dark pink, Mrs. Frank Moris, Lake Elmo, third premium, $0.50. White, Mrs. Frank Moris, Lake Elmo, second premium, $1.00. Festiva Maxima, B. T. Hoyt, St. Paul, second premium, $1.00. Medium or dark pink, B. T. Hoyt, St. Paul, second premium, $1.00. Festiva Maxima, John E. Stryker, St. Paul, first premium, $2.00. Light pink, John E. Stryker, St. Paul, second premium, $1.00. Dark pink, John E. Stryker, St. Paul, first premium, $2.00. Red, John E. Stryker, St. Paul, second premium, $1.00. Flesh or light pink, D. W. C. Ruff, St. Paul, first premium, $2.00. White, D. W. C. Ruff, St. Paul, first premium, $2.00. Red, D. W. C. Ruff, St. Paul, first premium, $2.00. Collection, 3 blooms, professional, B. T. Hoyt, St. Paul, first premium, $6.00.

A. M. BRAND, C. J. TRAXLER, Judges.

Collection, three blooms, amateur, Mrs. Frank Moris, Lake Elmo, fourth premium, $1.00. Collection, three blooms, amateur, Mrs. H. B. Tillotson, Excelsior, third premium, $2.00. Collection, three blooms, amateur, John E. Stryker, St. Paul, first premium, $6.00. Collection, three blooms, amateur, Mrs. E. W. D. Holway, Excelsior, second premium, $4.00.

OLAF J. OLSON, Judge.

Seedling, B. T. Hoyt, St. Paul, fourth premium, $0.50. Seedling, Crimson No. 1, 1916, A. M. Brand, Faribault, third premium, $1.00. Seedling, Ruth, A. M. Brand, Faribault, first premium, $3.00. Seedling, No. 245, A. M. Brand, Faribault, second premium, $2.00.

D. W. C. RUFF, Judge.

ANNUALS AND PERENNIALS.

Dielytra, F. H. Ellison, Minneapolis, third premium, $0.50. Forget-me-nots, F. H. Ellison, Minneapolis, first premium, $1.50. Gailardias, F. H. Ellison, Minneapolis, third premium, $0.50. Grass Pinks, F. H. Ellison, Minneapolis, second premium, $1.00. Iceland Poppies, F. H. Ellison, Minneapolis, second premium, $1.00. Dielytra, Mrs. Frank Moris, Lake Elmo, first premium, $1.50. Delphinium, Mrs. Frank Moris, Lake Elmo, third premium, $0.50. Foxgloves, Mrs. Frank Moris, Lake Elmo, second premium, $1.00. Grass Pinks, Mrs. Frank Moris, Lake Elmo, first premium, $1.50. Delphinium, Mrs. H. B. Tillotson, Excelsior, second premium, $1.00. Foxgloves, Mrs. H. B. Tillotson, Excelsior, third premium, $0.50. Iris, Mrs. H. B. Tillotson, Excelsior, third premium, $0.50. Gailardias, Guy C. Hawkins, Minneapolis, second premium, $1.00. Dielytra, Anna E. Rittle, St. Paul, second premium, $1.00. Iceland Poppies, Mrs. E. W. Gould, Minneapolis, third premium, $0.50. Gailardia, E. A. Farmer, Minneapolis, first premium, $1.50. Foxgloves, Mrs. J. F. Fairfax, Minneapolis, first premium, $1.50. Iceland Poppies, Mrs. J. F. Fairfax, Minneapolis, first premium, $1.50. Iris, Mrs. E. W. D. Holway, Excelsior, first premium, $1.50. Delphinium, Mrs. H. A. Boardman, St. Paul, first premium, $1.50. Forget-me-nots, Mrs. H. A. Boardman, St. Paul, third premium, $0.50. Iris, John S. Crooks, St. Paul, second premium, $1.00. Canterbury Bells, Mrs. Chas. Krause, Merriam Park, second premium, $1.00. Grass Pinks, Mrs. Chas. Krause, Merriam Park, third premium, $0.50. Canterbury Bells, J. A. Weber, Excelsior, first premium, $1.50. Forget-me-nots, Vera P. L. Stebbins, second premium, $1.00. Oriental Poppies, F. H. Ellison, Minneapolis, first premium, $1.50. Pansies, F. H. Ellison, Minneapolis, first premium, $1.50. Pyrethrum, F. H. Ellison, Minneapolis, second premium, $1.00. Sweet Peas, F. H. Ellison, Minneapolis, first premium, $1.50. Sweet William, F. H. Ellison, Minneapolis, second premium, $1.00. Shasta Daisies, Elizabeth Starr, Excelsior, third premium, $0.50. Lilies, Mrs. Frank Moris, Lake Elmo, third premium, $0.50. Oriental Poppies, Mrs. Frank Moris, Lake Elmo, second premium, $1.00. Pansies, Mrs. Frank Moris, Lake Elmo, second premium, $1.00. Lilies, Guy C. Hawkins, Minneapolis, first premium, $1.50. Perennial Coreopsis, Guy C. Hawkins, Minneapolis, first premium, $1.50. Pyrethrum, Guy C. Hawkins, Minneapolis, first premium, $1.50. Lupine, Mrs. E. W. Gould, Minneapolis, first premium, $1.50. Shasta Daisies, Mrs. G. T. Brown, St. Paul, second premium, $1.00. Sweet William, Mrs. J. F. Fairfax, Minneapolis, third premium, $0.50. Lupine, Mrs. H. A. Boardman, St. Paul, third premium, $0.50. Oriental Poppies, Mrs. H. A. Boardman, St. Paul, third premium, $0.50. Pyrethrum, Mrs. H. A. Boardman, St. Paul, third premium, $0.50. Shasta Daisies, Miss Flora Moeser, St. Louis Park, first premium, $1.50. Lilies, Mrs. Chas. Krause, Merriam Park, second premium, $1.00. Pansies, Mrs. Chas. Krause, Merriam Park, third premium, $0.50. Lupine, Miss Marion Prest, St. Paul, second premium, $1.00. Sweet William, J. A. Weber, Excelsior, first premium, $1.50.

JOHN HAWKINS, JOHN A. JANSEN, Judges.

Collection named perennials, J. A. Weber, Excelsior, first premium, $6.00. Collection named perennials, F. H. Ellison, Minneapolis, second premium, $4.00. Collection named perennials, Mrs. Frank Moris, Lake Elmo, third premium, $2.00.

MRS. H. A. BOARDMAN, MRS. WM. CRAWFORD, Judges.

Vase of flowers by child, Mrs. F. E. Kidd, Minneapolis, first premium, $2.00. Vase of flowers by child, Matilda Gantzer, St. Paul, second premium, $1.00.

MARTHA A. WYMAN, Judge.

Vase of any kind flowers, Mrs. Frank Moris, Lake Elmo, second premium, $1.00. Vase any kind flowers, Miss Marjorie Knowles, St. Paul, first premium, $2.00. Vase any kind flowers, Miss Flora Moeser, St. Louis Park, third premium, $0.50.

J. A. Boies, Judge.

Vase of flowers arranged for artistic effect, Mrs. F. E. Kidd, Minneapolis, second premium, $1.00. Vase of flowers arranged for artistic effect, Mrs. S. A. Gile, Minneapolis, first premium, $1.50. Vase of flowers arranged for artistic effect, F. H. Ellison, Minneapolis, third premium, $0.50. Basket outdoor grown, Elizabeth Starr, Excelsior, third premium, $1.00. Basket outdoor grown, Mrs. S. A. Gile, Minneapolis, second premium, $2.00. Basket outdoor grown, Mrs. H. A. Boardman, St. Paul, first premium, $3.00.

M. EMMA ROBERTS, CARRIE L. WILKERSON, Judges.

STRAWBERRIES.

Collection, six varieties, H. G. Groat, Anoka, first premium, $5.00. Collection, three named varieties, H. G. Groat, Anoka, first premium, $3.00. Collection, three named varieties, E. A. Farmer, Minneapolis, second premium, $2.00. Progressive, Mrs. H. B. Tillotson, Excelsior, first premium, $1.00. Bederwood, H. G. Groat, Anoka, first premium, $1.00. Dunlap, H. G. Groat, Anoka, second premium, $0.75. Crescent, H. G. Groat, Anoka, first premium, $1.00. Warfield, H. G. Groat, Anoka, first premium, $1.00. Warfield, Mrs. M. A. Rohan, Minneapolis, second premium, $0.75. Senator Dunlap, J. F. Bartlett, Excelsior, first premium, $1.00. Minnesota No. 3, J. F. Bartlett, Excelsior, first premium, $1.00. Minnesota No. 3, A. Brackett, Excelsior, second premium, $0.75. Americus, A. Brackett, Excelsior, first premium, $1.00. Progressive, A. Brackett, Excelsior, second premium, $0.75. Superb, A. Brackett, Excelsior, first premium, $1.00. Best named variety, Mrs. H. B. Tillotson, Excelsior, first premium, $2.00. Best named variety, H. G. Groat, Anoka, second premium, $1.00. Best named variety, Mrs. John Gantzer, St. Paul, third premium, $0.50. Seedling, A. Brackett, Excelsior, first premium, $3.00.

THOMAS REDPATH, Judge.



Experiment Work of Chas. G. Patten, Charles City, Ia.

GEO. J. KELLOGG, LAKE MILLS, WIS.

June 6.—I have just spent four days with our friend Patten. He has 7,000 surprises on seventeen acres of experiment orchard dating back to 1868—every tree of the 7,000 has a history.

For twenty-eight years he has been working on the Chinese sand pear and has brought out a race that is blight-proof, perfectly hardy and of good size and quality. He is not yet satisfied, but has 5,000 cross-bred seedlings of many crosses that are about three feet high, ready for transplanting in orchard rows next spring—and he has not room to set them. The state of Iowa does not appreciate his labor or value the work he has done and is doing; they are not giving him the money or men to carry on this work.

Beside the pear experiments he has hundreds of crosses of apples that are very promising and just coming into bearing. These are scattered all through that orchard of 7,000 trees, with the pears, and nearly as many plum crosses. Some plums are heavily loaded this year that are of wonderful value, and one of the great points is that they have escaped the bad weather in blooming time, while all our standard varieties failed—and I believe the hardiness of bloom will insure fruit on his best kinds when others fail in bad weather.

He is breeding form of tree in all these fruits—see his paper in the last volume of Iowa Hort. Report. His crop of apples is light, but many crosses show some fruit. Some pears and plums are loaded. Eugene Secor says, "Patten is greater than Burbank."