■'274 Nebraska State Horticultural Society. 



METHODS IN BREEDING HARDY FRUITS. 



By N. E. Hansen, South Dakota Experiment Station, Brookings, S. D. 



My purpose in this brief paper is simply to emphisze some points 

 brought out in Bull. 87 and 88 of the S. Dakota station. In crossing 

 various fruits I have found it of decided advantage over the old out- 

 door method to do the work under glass. The trees, shrubs and plants 

 are raised in pots, boxes or tubs for a year or two before blossoming 

 time. In winter they are stored in two specially constructed tree 

 cellars — one 16 by 50 feet and another 26 by 80 feet — with enough 

 windows to afford some light, where they are kept dormant and even 

 allowed to freeze somewhat. In late winter or early spring they are 

 brought into the greenhouse and the crossing is done when the flowers 

 are ready. Only a small part of the blossoms are emasculated; the 

 remainder are removed while still in the bud. No sacks are necessary 

 •as a rule. When there is no room in the greenhouse the tubs are 

 taken direct from the cellar to their permanent summer position late 

 enough to escape frosts. 



As a whole, the method demands close attention and careful ma- 

 Tttipulatibn. While visiting orchard houses in Europe in 1894 and again 

 in 1897, the thought came to me that this method of raising fancy 

 fruit could be utilized in experiments in the prairie Northwest. The 

 applicability of this method elsewhere remains to be determined. The 

 use of dwarf stock is necessary, as the Paradise for the apple, quince 

 -for pear, and the western sand cherry for th6 stone fruits. 



The South Dakota legislature of 1901 granted means for erecting 

 "the first fruit-'breeding greenhouse ever constructed. Since then ex- 

 periments have been limited only by the space available. Much more 

 could have been done with a larger greenhouse. Since South Dakota 

 always intends to be at the head, we trust that future legislatures will 

 provide additional facilities. As a result of this appropriation, and 

 the liberality of the Regents of Education in affording needed storage 

 cellars and other facilities, we are able to announce the production of 

 many interesting and hybrid fruits, many of them combinations made 



