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."
[Illustration: A fringe of peonies at the summer exhibit.]
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.