horticulture. But when you come to talking or writing about it you
scarcely know where to begin or what to say, there passes before your
eye an exhibition of such an amazing fragrance and beauty of varying
colors. Even now as I am writing these lines I can see with my mind's
eye every rose in my garden, some in their full glory, filling the air
with the sweet fragrance; others just opening; others in bud; and so on
in an ever pleasing variety. I have taken special interest in roses for
some ten or twelve years and have grown a good many different varieties
of them with success, good, bad and indifferent. I have succeeded well
with some of the hybrid perpetual roses. At the present time I have in
my garden Paul Neyron, General Jacquiminot, Ulric Brunner, Black Prince,
Etoile De France, Frau Karl Droschky and Marshall P. Wilder, also others
of which I have lost the names. Of climbing roses I have Crimson
Rambler, Thousand Beauties, Prairie Queen and Dorothy Perkins. All the
above named are everbloomers, except the climbers, and all need careful
winter protection.
_How to grow them._--Get two year old No. 1 plants and prepare your soil
just like you would for your vegetable garden. If your soil is not
particularly rich, spade in a liberal quantity of well rotted manure and
mix well with soil. Set your plants and keep up clean cultivation all
summer and give them plenty of water, and you will have an abundance of
roses the first year. In the fall get some clean straw, bend your rose
bushes over, put a fence post across on top of them to hold them down
and then cover with straw to a depth of one foot. Or if you have a
number of them planted in one row, make a long box about two feet wide
and about twenty inches deep, fill about half full of straw, then place
along side of the row of plants, bend your plants down lengthwise the
row, then tip the box over them, put some straw around sides of box and
on the outside put some posts or boards on to hold it down, when you
will have the best protection possible. Right here I want to put in a
word of warning, and that is, if you do not like to do extra work don't
attempt to grow roses; in other words, if you are lazy they don't like
you well enough to stay with you, for it means work and lots of it.
We have, however, one class of roses which can be grown by every one who
wants them, the hybrid Rosa Rugosa roses. Of them we have such as
Blanche D. Caubet, pure white of large size, a perpetual bloomer; Sir
Thomas Lipton, also white, a little smaller in blossom but perfectly
double; Conrad Meyer, clear silvery pink, of large size, very double and
of choicest fragrance, a continuous bloomer (needs some winter
protection); New Century, rosy pink, shading to almost red in the
center, good size and double. One of the hardiest is Hansa, deep violet
red, very large, double and an exceedingly profuse and continuous
bloomer, absolutely hardy. These five varieties can be considered as
everybody's roses, because of the easiness and sureness with which they
can be grown, taking into consideration the elimination of winter
protection. Planting, preparation of ground and cultivation are the same
as for all other roses. Do not imagine for a minute that they will do
well in sod or grass.
[Illustration: Martin Frydholm in his rose garden, at Albert Lea.]
Another class of roses is the Baby Ramblers. For borders and bedding
roses these I think surpass all others on account of the easiness by
which they may be grown. And they are a perfect mass of blossoms from
June till freezing. They need winter protection, but that is not
difficult on account of the low growth and small size of plant.
Above all do not forget that all roses need rich soil and lots of water.
When your rose bushes are three years old you must begin to give some
attention to trimming. Cut out some of the oldest wood before you lay
them down in the fall, and if some of the shoots have grown very tall
cut back about half, although these rank canes may give you the best
roses the following season if you can protect them well enough so that
they do not winter-kill. In this photograph which is shown here is one
Ulric Brunner with one shoot extending two feet above my head and
covered all along with the most magnificent roses I have ever had in my
garden. The same thing I have done with the General Jacquiminot.
Asparagus by the Acre.
E. W. RECORD, MARKET GARDENER, BROOKLYN CENTER.
First I am careful about selecting seed of a good variety. My choice is
Palmetto, because it is hardy and the best seller on our market. In
starting a bed I sow my seed as early as possible in the spring in rows
about eighteen inches apart, and when the plants are well up I thin out
to about an inch, so the roots will not be so hard to separate when
ready to transplant. My experience has been that plants two years old
are more easily handled than those one or three, because the one year
plants are not matured enough, while the roots of the three year old
have become too matured, and when separated too many of the roots are
broken off.
In preparing the ground for asparagus I plow and then harrow it and mark
it off so the rows will be five feet apart. I plow a furrow from
fourteen to sixteen inches deep, throwing the dirt both ways. Then with
my cultivator I loosen up the bottom of the furrow. I place the plants
in the furrow about eighteen inches apart, being careful to spread the
roots evenly over the bottom of the furrow, putting a little dirt over
them to hold them in place. With my cultivator I keep filling in the
furrow, at the same time plowing out the middle to keep down the weeds.
In fertilizing a bed of asparagus my experience has been that the best
way is to plow a furrow between the rows, filling it with barnyard
manure, then covering this with earth. Spreading the manure broadcast
makes too many of the stalks grow crooked.
I never cut my asparagus for market until the third year, and then only
for a short time. By the fifth year the bed is strong enough to cut the
whole season. When the season is over I cultivate often enough to keep
down the weeds. I never cut the old stalks off until spring, because
after the first freeze the stalks are hollow, and this would allow the
frost to run down into the roots.
Annual Report, 1915, Vice-President, Second Congressional District.
JOHN BISBEE, MADELIA.
A summer remarkable in many respects has passed. Many of our people have
labored hard, and the rewards of that labor have been meager and
unsatisfactory. Horticulture with all the other labors on the land has
been rewarded like the other cultivators of the soil in our section of
the state. I sent out twenty-five of the circulars and twenty were
filled out and returned.
Apple raisers report, four a good crop, the balance poor or none.
Plums: One fair, others poor or none.
Cherries: One good, all others poor.
Grapes: One good, balance poor to none.
Blackberries: One good, balance poor to none.
Other fruits all poor.
Nursery stock: One place reports one car load planted, the balance a
few, all making good growth.
Strawberries: Five report good crop, balance few to poor.
Blight: Some reported but little efforts made to eradicate.
Fruit trees did not suffer much last winter (1914-5). All report plenty
of moisture in ground.
Varieties of apples doing best: Wealthy, Duchess, Longfield, Salome,
Spitzenberg, Northwestern Greening, Anisim, Malinda, Hibernal, Jonathan.
Spraying neglected very largely.
I am doing all of the top-working I can get done every spring.
Am setting largely the Salome. I find the tree hardy here; a moderate
bearer; apples fine and handsome; a good keeper; tree does not blight
and grows very thriftily. It grows on a great share of the stocks in
which I have placed it.
My next best apple is the Spitzenberg. I am not placing many Wealthy
scions, as I have about all I want of them.
I tried thinning the fruit on some of my heavy bearers last summer and
like it much. I think the best way to do it is to cut out the fruit
spurs, as that can be done in the winter.
Annual Report, 1915, Vice-President, Fifth Congressional District.
CHAS. H. RAMSDELL, MINNEAPOLIS.
The horticultural interests of the Fifth Congressional District (of
which Minneapolis is the largest part) comprise three lines of activity,
the raising of fruit, vegetables and flowers for home supply and profit,
ornamental horticulture for pleasure and the city marketing of the
produce of this and every other region, furnishing whatever is demanded
by a large metropolitan market. Therefore, I will report along these
lines.
[Illustration: Chas. H. Ramsdell.]
Judging from the reports of my correspondents throughout the country,
the "freeze" in May was responsible for a rather complete absence of
local fruit the past season. Sheltered orchards and those on the south
side of any lake bore a small crop. Of apples, the Wealthy and Malinda
are mentioned as bearing fairly well. Plums were entirely a failure,
cherries are not raised to any extent, grapes and small fruits were not
enough to supply the market as a whole. Raspberry and strawberry growing
seems to be on the decline, owing to the prevalence of insect pests
which do _not_ receive attention to keep them in check. The importance
of this is all the more apparent, because with the shorter distances of
this district being the rule, the danger from rapid spread is more
pronounced.
The growing conditions of the season have been of the best, and all
stock goes into the winter in excellent shape with a good amount of soil
moisture and a promise for better conditions next season.
Several market reports have been received which give valuable
information. Prices of fruit, vegetables and floral stock have been low
in almost all cases. The public demand has been rather below normal,
although it has been steady and fair in volume. There seems to be a good
deal of complaint about the care of the railroads, etc., with fruit and
perishable products, but, on the other hand, a good deal of local
produce is not put up in good shape. The uniformly good packing of
western fruit reveals the cause of its popularity on the local markets.
Certain kinds of fruit almost glutted the market this season, notably
Florida grape fruit, western box apples and peaches. I quote one market
statement as very pertinent:
If Minnesota apple growers would gather their apples before they are too
ripe, carefully grade and pack uniformly through the barrel, thus making
it possible for the wholesaler to ship out on orders, they would
undoubtedly realize more for their product than to market them
themselves in the usual manner in which apples are marketed.
Ornamental horticulture in my district is making rapid progress. Large
lots of nursery stock are yearly put in with excellent results. The
influence and interest of the "Garden Flower Society" and of these
horticultural meetings is nowhere more felt than in Hennepin County. The
gardens of the Minneapolis park board, in Loring Park, at Lyndale
Farmstead, and near the Parade and Armory, give the horticultural public
much valuable information. Even the wild flower garden in Glenwood Park
is yearly receiving an increasing number of visitors. The increasing use
of perennials is creating a new gardening enthusiasm. The perennial
exhibit at the summer meeting of the Horticultural Society was worthy of
much study. Careful use of hardy evergreens is increasing also, adding
value especially to our winter landscapes. This season has been very
favorable to gardening work and steady has been the progress made.
Greater care with insect pests, and better methods of preparing fruit
for market seem to be the two greatest needs of the horticulturists of
the Fifth District.
* * * * *
APPLE PRODUCTION AND PRICES.--According to the best authority
available, the apple crop in the United States for 1915 promises to be
about 22,500,000 barrels, says The Niagara County, New York, Farm Bureau
News. This will be the lightest crop in several years, the 1910 crop
being the next lightest, when about 24,000,000 barrels were produced. In
comparison, the 1914 crop was about 45,000,000 barrels and the 1913 crop
about 30,000,000 barrels.
The above refers to the commercial crop that is marketed in closed
packages, and should not be confounded with the recent estimate of the
United States Department of Agriculture, which is understood to refer to
the total production of apples, including those used for cider and
shipped to the market in bulk.
Annual Report, 1915, Vice-President, Sixth Congressional District.
E. W. MAYMAN, SAUK RAPIDS.
[Illustration: Residence of E. W. Mayman, at Sauk Rapids, Minn.]
This district comprises quite a large area, and a large amount of fruit
of various kinds is raised. Besides the reports received, I visited a
good many places where fruit is being raised and intended visiting more
except for unfavorable weather. From all sources the reports were that
all fruit trees, vines and other plants came through the previous winter
in good condition, and that all fruit trees budded and blossomed earlier
than usual. April being such a warm month caused this condition--and
indications were for a record-breaking crop. But this was all changed
after the severe freeze of May 17th, which destroyed nearly all blossoms
of apple and plum and what promise there was of cherry and grape. The
frost again on June the 8th did great damage to raspberries and
strawberries, currants and gooseberries. From all reports received and
from my own observation at my place I can sum up briefly as follows:
Apples not more than five per cent. of crop; crab apples, no crop;
plums, from ten to fifteen per cent. of a crop; cherries, very few
planted except the Compass and crop very light; grapes, not very
extensively raised, Collegeville having the largest collection so far as
I know, and at that place while the new growth had been frozen off still
a second growth of new wood was formed and gave a light crop of fruit.
Blackberries: No crop reported.
Raspberries: There is in this immediate vicinity upwards of twenty acres
or more planted of several varieties, but the crop was very light, and
from other places the reports received were the same.
Strawberries: There is also quite a large acreage planted in this
vicinity, but the crop the past season was very poor, except for the
everbearing variety planted for experimental purposes. This variety did
well and continued to fruit to November 1st.
Currants and gooseberries: Reports gave no crop to speak of, and at my
place and in this vicinity while there is quite a large planting there
was no fruit. This, of course, was owing to the frost as before stated.
Very little nursery stock has been planted except in small quantities
here and there, yet there is great interest taken in fruit raising.
In regard to blight, none to speak of according to reports, and
everything indicates a good healthy growth.
As to spraying there seems to be little done along that line, although
some orchards have been sprayed.
All trees and shrubs and perennial plants planted the past season, as
well as those previously planted, made an exceptionally good growth,
owing, I think, to the cool, moist spring and continued cool summer.
And, all wood maturing early, everything, I think, has gone into winter
quarters in very good condition, and other things being favorable we may
expect a good crop of everything next season.
* * * * *
The following poisoned wash has proved highly satisfactory in the West
and promises to be one of the most popular methods of protecting trees
from rabbits:
_Poisoned Tree Wash._--Dissolve one ounce of strychnine sulphate in
three quarts of boiling water and add one-half pint of laundry starch,
previously dissolved in one pint of cold water. Boil this mixture until
it becomes a clear paste. Add one ounce of glycerin and stir thoroughly.
When sufficiently cool, apply to the trunks of trees with a paint brush.
Rabbits that gnaw the bark will be killed before the tree is injured.
Annual Report, 1915, Vice-President, Ninth Congressional District.
MRS. H. E. WELD, MOORHEAD.
The fruit crop in general throughout this district was not very good.
The spring was late and cold with a heavy frost in June. Where the fruit
trees were protected by a natural windbreak, we find the best
conditions. Wilkin, Becker, Ottertail counties' reports indicate that
the apple crop was small, but the fruit was of good quality.
[Illustration: Residence of Louie Wentzel, Crookston, life member and
vice-president in 1914]
The varieties that are grown in this district in order of their
importance and hardiness are the following: Hibernal, Duchess, Okabena,
Patten's Greening and Wealthy. The hardier varieties of crabs are
growing here. The Transcendent is the most popular crab. The Hyslop,
Florence and Whitney are also grown.
But very little blight is reported in this district.
In localities where the trees have the protection of a windbreak there
was a small crop of plums. The DeSoto, Forest Garden and Hansen hybrids
are giving very good results. Even the wild plums were few, as the
blossoms were hurt by frost.
Where there was windbreak protection the Compass cherry tree looks
healthy and has given a fair crop.
Grapes have not been very generally planted. The Beta is the hardiest
variety. The Concord does well where properly planted and cared for.
Raspberry bushes made a good growth and look healthy; although damaged
by frost there was a fair crop.
Strawberries yielded fairly well where they were given attention. The
Senator Dunlap, Warfield and everbearing plants should be more generally
grown.
Gooseberries and currants were just fair in some localities, in others
the late frost destroyed all prospects of small fruits. The Houghton and
Downing gooseberries, Red Dutch and White Grape currants are some of the
varieties planted.
In Ottertail, Wilkin and Beltrami counties a good deal of nursery stock
has been planted and with very good success.
Very little has been done in the way of spraying orchards, as trees are
young.
All fruits are going into winter in good condition, with fair amount of
moisture in the ground and trees full of fruit buds.
The hardy ornamental shrubs, honeysuckle, lilac, mock-orange and spirea
Van Houttii can be grown here. Hardy perennial flowers that do well are
peony, phlox, golden glow and bleeding heart. This northern section of
the state is the land for the hardy perennials. Nowhere else do we get
such beautiful colorings and bloom.
Annual Report, 1915, Madison Trial Station.
M. SOHOLT, SUPT.
This season has been very good. We have had plenty of rain, so that all
nursery stock set out this last spring has made a good growth.
The first part of May a hard frost did quite a good deal of damage to
small stock just planted or lined out in the nursery. This frost also
damaged the blossoms on the fruit trees. The plum trees happened to be
in full bloom when this frost came, so that froze them entirely, and so
we did not get any plums to speak of. We also had a light crop of
apples, especially of the early varieties. The Northwestern and Patten's
Greening bore a good crop.
The grapes also froze. I expected to get some fruit off those grape
seedlings I received from the State Fruit-Breeding Farm three years ago,
but they went with the rest of it.
The plum trees I received this and two years ago are all doing well.
They did not freeze back any when we had that hard frost; so far they
seem to be hardy for this location.
Had a medium crop of raspberries, also a light crop of currants and
gooseberries. We had a good crop of strawberries. Seedling strawberry
No. 3 is doing very well. Everbearing strawberries are doing nicely. We
had a nice fall and plenty of rain, so that trees and shrubbery went
into winter quarters in good condition.
Growing Beans and Sweet Corn.
P. B. MARIEN, ST. PAUL.
Since it is one thing to grow beans and sweet corn and another to make
money on them, I think from a market gardener's point of view my heading
should have been "growing beans and sweet corn at a profit."
I will talk of beans first, because while the two are planted at about
the same time, beans make their appearance on the market long before
sweet corn.
Beans have a nitrogen gathering power and are therefore a soil-improving
crop. They are to the gardener what clover is to the farmer. For early
beans we have found that sandy soil well fertilized is by far the best.
If possible it should be sloping toward the south, although we have had
good success on level land well drained. One should have the best seed
possible, and if you get hold of a good strain of seed that produces
nice, velvety beans earlier than your neighbor, save as much of that
seed as you can. Of course now that the price of seed is $10.00 to
$14.00 a bushel one cannot be too particular.
[Illustration: P. B. Marien, St. Paul.]
Too much stress cannot be laid on the fact that to make money on beans
one must have them on the market within a week after the first ones make
their appearance. To do this one must plant them at the right time. The
practical gardener knows that as he sits near the stove with the ground
still frozen and a cold March wind blowing he cannot say "I will plant
my beans on April 15 or on April 20." It is impossible to set a date for
planting. After the ground has been plowed and well tilled he must wait
until it is well warmed. Sometimes it pays to take a chance, but we
always wait until the buds appear on the white oak trees. However there
is nothing infallible about this rule, but it is the one we generally
follow.
As to kinds we have two wax beans which we have planted for many years:
the Davis, which does well in wet weather, and the Wardwell Kidney,
which does well in dry weather. Every variety of green beans we have
ever grown has done well.
Rows three feet apart, with the hills about six inches apart, three or
four seed in a hill, might take up too much room on a small scale, but
where one uses horses to cultivate, I think it is about right.
Beans should be cultivated at least two or three times a week, and they
should be hoed three times during the season. Never cultivate your beans
while the dew is on, as it has a tendency to rust them.
While St. Paul has not offered a very good market for medium and late
string beans in the last few years, it is a good plan to have a patch
come in about every ten days. Because you happen to get from $2.50 to
$3.50 a bushel for your first beans this year, do not resolve to put the
whole farm into beans next year, for they might come three or four days
later than your neighbor's, and your profits might be like ours were one
day last summer. I came to market with forty-eight bushels of beans.
They cost twenty cents for picking. I sold thirty-two bushels at thirty
cents and offered the remaining sixteen bushels at twenty cents, but
found no sale for them. I brought them back home and to my surprise
found two extra bushels, making eighteen instead of sixteen bushels. I
concluded that someone had despaired of selling them and perhaps had
poor success in trying to give them away and so forced them on me.
However we consider we did well on our beans, as the first two pickings
brought from $2.00 to $3.50 per bushel.
Now a few words about sweet corn. Along about the 6th to the 12th of
July the truck gardener should load his first sweet corn. Sweet corn is
of American origin, having been developed from field corn, or maize. No
large vegetable is so generally grown throughout the country, the
markets of the cities taking large quantities, and immense areas being
grown for canning purposes.
Seed that fails entirely is not often found, but when one has a good
strain that produces early corn it is best to save some.
We generally have sweet corn to sell every day from about the middle of
July until the first frost. To do this we plant every ten days from
about the 20th of April to the 20th of June. Our early variety is the
Peep-O'Day, which is planted about the same time as the early beans. We
also plant the Golden Bantam at this time. This is followed by Red Cob
Cory, Pocahontas and some more Bantam. Then about May 15th to 20th we
plant early and late Evergreen, Bantam and Country Gentleman.
[Illustration: A load of vegetables at Marien's ready for market.]
Soil well adapted to common field corn will produce good sweet corn,
thriving best on well fertilized land. Sandy soil is best for the early
varieties.
Sweet corn is often grown in drills, but we prefer the hills three feet
apart, as it is easier to get an even stand, and cultivating both ways
will push the crop. It should be cultivated shallow and never deep
enough to hurt the roots. It is well to hoe it once.
Sweet corn is one of the few vegetables which is quite free from serious
injury from either insects or diseases.