ANNUAL MEETING, WISCONSIN STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.— This meeting will open Monday evening, February 6, at Madison, and continue in session four days. Tuesday evening is given up to forestry entirely. Thursday evening the Alumni of Agricultural College will hold the boards. We are glad the young people are to have a chance to be heard. As before stated, Mr. Underwood will go from Minnesota to represent our society, and we hope others, as well, who can make it convenient. A LONG SCION AND A SHORT ROOT.-The secretary in his corner last month was guilty of a serious reversion. It is so easy to twist things in this way, but an editor should never do it. Don't make the mistake of planting root-grafts with a "short scion and a long root," even if the Secretary's Corner does counsel it. A long scion gives an opportunity for roots to grow from it and will result in a much hardier and safer tree than "a short scion and a long root." Make your root-grafts with a "long scion and a short root." In either case avoid "budded trees"-you don't want them at all. GREEN'S "FORESTRY IN MINNESOTA," IN CLOTH AS A PREMIUM.— The Horticultural Society has had a quantity of this new work, by Prof. S. B. Green, bound in cloth in a neat and substantial way to match the other books on fruit and vegetable culture by the same author. This valuable work, of 311 pages, is offered by the society to our members as a premium for securing new members. It is an easy way for you to secure in form for permanent preservation a copy of a work you can make of great practical use. It can be bought of the secretary also for 50c., postpaid. DEATH OF H. D. BURCH, EXCELSIOR.-The sudden death of Mr. Burch, which occurred early in the year, removes from our midst a practical horticulturist of many years experience in our state. A personal acquaintance with Mr. Burch has given the writer a high opinion of his worth as a Christian citizen and zealous worker in every good cause. Though not long allied with our society, his value to local horticulture was fully recognized. By education a lawyer, and devoting a large share of his life to the profession of teaching, he brought to the practice of our art a high degree of intelligence. THE PROPOSED LEGISLATION "REGULATING INTRODUCTION AND SALE OF NURSERY STOCK."-The committee appointed at the late annual meeting of this society to prepare a bill for the purpose expressed in the above title are making progress and hope to soon have the matter in shape for presentation. A great deal of correspondence has been received on the subject by members of the committee, and all phases of the question are being carefully considered with the purpose of treating all interests with fairness. In the state there seems to be a general desire for the passage of such a law, while outside of the state it is generally opposed, largely, it would appear, from a misunderstanding of the ends sought to be accomplished and the means to be employed. Some such legislation as this is sorely needed. We hope to have a copy of the bill for publication in the next issue and to report progress. THE MINNESOTA HORTICULTURIST. No. 3. MARCH, 1899. VOL. 27. Trial Stations Dec., 1898. CENTRAL STATION, ST. ANTHONY PARK. PROF. S. B. green, supt. Members of the Minnesota Horticultural Society: It gives me great pleasure to have the privilege of making my eleventh annual report to you on the progress made in horticulture at the experiment station. This report will necessarily be brief, on account of the crowded condition of my work, and will be confined to general matters, the results in greater detail being reserved to be reported on in a bulletin later on. The Horticultural Division of the Experiment Station has issued no regular bulletin during the past year, but instead has gotten out a manual on forestry of 311 pages, ten thousand copies of which have been published by the Minnesota Forestry Association for gratuitous distribution in this state. This publication is designed especially as a text book on forestry for our classes in the school of agriculture, but it contains our observations on this subject up to date and in reality is a public bulletin on this subject. The year, as a whole, has been very satisfactory. Increased interest in the experiment station and school of agriculture has been very evident. We have had a larger number of students present during the past year than ever before at any one time, and, as a whole, the students coming to us have had rather better preparation than heretofore, which has made it possible to somewhat increase the scope of the work. There has been no change in the staff of the experiment station. Among the fruit crops, apples naturally come first for a few words. Our so-called Russian orchard, which is situated on the flat, open prairie, is doing surprisingly well, and this year the larger trees in it gave a moderate crop of apples, so that perhaps thirty barrels were harvested, most of them early kinds, such as Borovinka, Duchess and Charlamoff. Our other orchards of bearing size were also quite productive, and the outlook is that at no distant day we shall have a surplus of fruit to dispose of. Our seedling orchard has made very satisfactory progress, and while it is not old enough to bear yet it has made very satisfactory growth, and it looks as though we might get very interesting results from it. Nearly three acres have been planted in the new orchard, which has been filled entirely with kinds of most promising hardiness. It is the intention to make this a modern commercial orchard rather than an experimental orchard. This seems advisable from the fact that so few people seem to be able to interpret the vacancies which must exist in an experiment orchard, but rather look upon the death of trees as discouraging, yet in reality the vacancies oftimes give us most valuable lessons. It is my intention to keep this orchard thoroughly well cultivated. On the approach of winter all the trees were laid flat on the ground and covered with soil and mulch. Such position not only prevents climatic injuries but protects from mice and rabbits. On our grounds the Hibernal and a number of other varieties of trees are rather tardy about coming into bearing, and in '97 I girdled a few of them with the object of hastening the fruiting period, which it has done very successfully without apparent injury to the trees. Our crop of plums was very light, only a few varieties fruiting heavily. I was not sorry for this, though, as our trees have overborne for several years past and needed a chance to make wood, which they have done the past season. Our vineyards have pretty well recovered from the severe winter injury of two years ago and this year gave very fair crops of fruit. We have planted a new vineyard in the garden, and it is the inten tion to do away with the one on the hillside opposite the Drill Hall as soon as this one comes into bearing. I have been rather interested this year in trying to keep grapes in an ordinary cellar, and have had the best success with the Lindley, though the Agawam has done very well. By packing them in the cellar in dry sawdust I have been able to keep them in good edible condition until the latter part of February, at which time they were crisp and of good flavor, with the exception that they had taken up a little of the taste of the sawdust. I believe that such long keeping kinds as the Agawam and Lindley, which bear very well in this section, should be grown to a greater extent, for the reason that they keep such a long time and are very productive. The crop of raspberries was remarkably good, and perhaps never before did we have such an abundance as the past season. I would call especial attention to the Loudon as being, in my opinion, the best red raspberry for general use for the market or home. The King is an early red raspberry, but scarcely earlier than the Loudon, and while fully as productive early in the season it does not hold |