ADDITIONS TO SOCIETY LIBRARY SINCE JANUARY 1, 1898. Mo. State Hort. Society, Annual Report, 1896. National Irrigation Congress, 5th Annual Report, 1896. Year Book. Dept. Agriculture, U. S., 1896. West Va. State Board of Agriculture, Biennial Report, 1893-4. Report on Forestry, Dept. of Agriculture, U. S., 1877. Farmers' Institute Annual, Minn., 1897. Minn. State Agri. Society, Annual Report, 1892. Minn. State Agri. Society, Annual Report, 1897. Cal. Agricultural Exp. Sta., Annual Report, 1896-7. Minn. Div. of Entomology, Annual Report, 1897. N. J. Exp. Station, Annual Report, 1897. British Columbia Fruit Growers' Association, Annual Report, 1895-7. Peninsula Hort. Society Reports, 1888-97. Illinois State Hort., Society, Annual Report, 1897. Conn. State Exp. Sta., Annual Report, 1897. Georgia State Hort. Society, Annual Report, 1897. Year Book, U. S. Dept. of Agri., Annual Report, 1897. Exp. Farms, Canada, Annual Report, 1897. Ills. State Hort. Society, Annual Report, 1896. State Museum of Nat. Hist., New York, 1890. State Museum of Nat. Hist., New York, 1894. State Museum of Nat. Hist., New York, Part 1, 1894. State Museum of Nat. Hist., New York, Part 2. 1894. State Museum of Nat. Hist., New York, (plates) Part 3, 1894. State Museum of Nat. Hist., New York, 1895. State Museum of Nat. Hist., New York, 1896. 1899. The Apple; Kansas State Hort. Society, 1898. Ontario Fruit Growers' Ass'n, Annual Report, 1890. Neb. State Board of Hort., Annual Report, 1890. R. I. Agri. Exp. Sta., Annual Report, 1897. Ontario Exp. Farms' Report, 1897. Forest Trees of U. S., Dept. of Agri., 1898. Manitoba Farmers' Institute, Annual Meeting, 1896. United States Department of Agriculture, Annual Report, 1873, American Nurserymen's Association, Annual Meeting, 1891. Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station, Annual Report, 1896. Folk-Lore of Plants.-Dyer. Origin of Cultivated Plants.-De Candolle. Practical Floral Culture.-Henderson. Bulbs and Tuberous Plants.-Allen. Greenhouse Construction.-Taft. Entomology for Beginners.-Packard. Ornamental Gardening for Americans.-Long. The Forcing Book.-Bailey. The Pruning Book.-Bailey. Greenhouse Management.-Taft. Cryptogamic Botany.-Bennett and Murray. The Survival of the Unlike.-Bailey. Elements of Forestry.-Hough. The Earth as Modified by Human Action.-Marsh. Manual of Botany.-Balfour. How to Grow Cut Flowers.-Hunt. How to Know The Wild Flowers.-Dana. Principles of Plant Culture.-Goff. American Grape Growing and Wine Making.-Husmann. Insects Injurious to Fruits.-Saunders. Animals and Plants under Domestication, Vol. 1.-Darwin. Animals and Plants under Domestication. Vol. 2.-Darwin. The American Fruit Culturist.-Thomas. Cranberry Culture.-White. Days out of Doors-.Abbott. The Garden Story.-Ellwanger. Familiar Flowers of Field and Garden.-Mathews. The Spraying of Plants.-Lodeman. The Fertility of the Land.-Roberts. Geological History of Plants.-Dawson. Familiar Trees and their Leaves.-Mathews. Forest Planting, etc.-Jarchow. Practical Forestry.-Fuller. Irrigation for Farm, Garden and Orchard.-Stewart. Mushrooms and How to Grow Them.-Falconer. Trees and Tree Planting.-Brisbin. Gray's Lessons and Manual of Botany.-Gray. Gray's Field, Forest and Garden Botany.-Gray. Part 1, Vol. 1.-Kerner and Oliver. Vol. 1.-Britton and Brown. Beautifying Country Homes.-Weidenmann. Report Ill, State Horticultural Society, 1898. Vermont Agricultural Experiment Station. Annual Report, 1897-98. Entomostraca of Minnesota.-Herrick and Turner. Entomologist of Minnesota. Annual Report, 1898. Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. Annual Report, 1898. NUTS FOR PLANTING.-Gather the nuts (walnuts, hickory nuts, pits of peaches, etc.), place in a rough bag and bury in the garden about a foot deep. By the time the frost is well out of the ground in spring, the shells will have burst,and the nuts can be placed in a bed specially prepared for them or put where the trees are to stand. TREATMENT OF FROZEN FRUIT TREES.-The recent cold weather killed some fruit trees completely and injured many others. Some of the tender varieties were killed back to the main trunk, while with varieties a little more hardy only the tips of the branches were destroyed. In calling attention to this, the Ohio experiment station states that the best thing that can be done is to remove all parts that are seriously affected. It is well to wait until it is possible to determine about how much injury has been done, as shown by the discolored wood and shriveled bark; usually one warm spell is sufficient. It is possible to defer the work too long, as the frozen wood seems to have a deleterious effect upon the sound parts if not removed before growth commences. During March and April the pruning should be done. Calendar for May. O. M. LORD, MINNESOTA CITY. Winter has lingered so long that the fore part of May is not too late for planting seeds, trees and shrubbery that we usually plant in April. It is safer to plant tender varieties after all danger of frosts is over, and when the ground is well warmed. Frost was still under the mulching of strawberries last week, and fence posts could not be set in some places, indicating that the season is more backward than usual. Strawberries where properly covered are in fine condition, and no mistake will be made in increasing the area this spring, as so many other fruits have been winter-killed. No one can say positively what variety will succeed best with you. A dozen each of a dozen or more varieties will well repay one for trial to find out which is most suitable to your soil, and each variety should produce plants enough for future use for one family. Fruit plants in this vicinity went into the winter in good condition, but unprotected. Shaffer and Cuthbert raspberries are killed to the snow line; the Turner and Loudon have come through very well. The small planter for family use will do well to remember this, as they are both standard fruits and excellent of their kind. The others can be successfully grown but will cost more labor. The same advice can be given in regard to plum trees. Nearly all kinds except our natives are killed or injured so as to produce no fruit this year, while all the natives are unhurt. The Wragg and Russian cherry trees appear all right, also the old standard apple trees. The last winter will probably be recorded as one of our test winters, and it may be considered safe to plant any fruits that have lived through it. Unprotected blackberries are killed. Blackcap raspberries of nearly all kinds are hurt in the bud, except the Palmer. The seed and plant catalogues are so filled with names that the person without experience is puzzled to know what to plant, hence these notes if heeded may be of some use to the novice. Every farmer, gardener and fruit grower should grow his own seed as far as he can. Too much stress cannot be laid on the varieties adapted to the different soils, and the quality of the seed. The writer lost one year twenty-five bushels of corn to the acre, by planting the wrong variety. Two kinds were treated precisely alike, and one yielded fifty bushels and the other only twenty-five. A half crop of potatoes was lost by the same process, and this difference holds good in many of our garden vegetables. The educational advantages of our county and state fairs in regard to improved varieties, afford a fine opportunity for comparison and selection. A close in spection of our village markets will often show garden products of superior values. It is rare that replanting gives good results, and, therefore, great care should be exercised in our first garden work. Where seeds germinate quickly, and all the conditions are favorable, replanting will sometimes do very well, but, as a rule, where a complete failure is made it is profitable to follow with some other crop that does not require so early planting. A fair crop of sweet corn, potatoes, squashes, etc., may be grown where other seeds have failed. A replowing is not necessary unless the soil has been impacted by heavy rains, but a good seed bed should be made with the cultivator or harrow; this will also destroy the weeds that would otherwise infect the early planted ground. We hope that noxious insects and fungous diseases have been given a set back as well as some of our shrubbery. The intense cold has no doubt destroyed many of the insects, but where they go into the ground in the fall to change their form they are probably alive and will appear again in their season. The curculio and the currant worm may be seen and destroyed about the last of this month. The most effectual remedy for curculio is jarring the trees over a sheet and crushing the insects. For currant worms, a tablespoonful of Paris green to four or six gallons of water is the best application if given when they first appear. Melon, squash and cucumber vines must also be carefully guarded from the striped bug. Air slaked lime used every day has proved very satisfactory. The bugs are not troublesome after the plants are a week or ten days old. We have always been advised to "take time by the forelock" in gardening, but the first of May this year finds our forelock in his hands, and we hardly know which way to pull first. A HISTORY OF FOREST FIRES.-Among other evidence of the growing interest the general government is taking in the forests of the country, is the work now being prosecuted of writing up a history of the forest fires, to be not only descriptive but statistical. Mr. Otto Luebkert is now canvassing the subject in this state and will push his researches as far back as reliable facts can be secured. The result of this investigation will be interesting and a valuable stimulant toward forest preservation.-Secy. QUALITY TEST FOR POTATOES.-We must learn to grade potatoes according to quality. There is just as much difference between a mealy and a soggy potato as there is between tenderloin and rump steak. The difficulty is to sort out the good ones. Here is the potato test: Wash them and then put them in a tub of water. They will all sink. Add salt and the poorer, lighter ones will rise. Add more salt and others will rise. Those which finally remain at the bottom you can warrant every time to be prime bakers. Not over 10 to 20 per cent of potatoes will stand the test. For these, your customers will gladly pay extra prices. H. B. C. |