382 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Pickett came from Iowa and it is commonly thought that he brought the dewberry 

 with him and that it grew wild in that state. Mr. Cook resides near the Mennonites, 

 and some have supposed that the variety was originally introduced by them from 

 Russia, but I fail to find anything in the botanical features of the plant which leads 

 me to suspect any other than an American origin. It looks like a large-leaved and 

 thrifty form of Rubus Canadensis, and I have seen similar wild varieties, and bearing 

 apparently as large fruit, upon the eastern shore of lake Michigan. 



I have collected here all the information which I have found concerning the value of 

 the Windom. Mr. Cook, the introducer, writes me as follows: " The Windom has 

 about all the peculiarities of the species. Sometimes it does remarkably well, and at 

 other times it fails entirely. I am much concerned in finding some method whereby a 

 good crop of dewberries of any variety can be produced as certainly as a crop of rasp- 

 berries. The canes of the Windom are very hardy, though more tender than the Sny- 

 der blackberry. The fruit is of the size of Snyder or a trifle larger but not so good in 

 quality, although its quality is above that of Lucretia. It is excellent for canning, 

 excelling any of the blackberries for this purpose. The fruit often sun-scalds very 

 badly, and the plants should therefore be grown in partial shade. I grow them in a 

 shady orchard. I plow under a part of the patch every spring and let the plants start 

 fresh from the roots. I never cultivate them. I think that with garden culture they 

 form a too dense mass of vines, thereby choking themselves to death. At least it seems 

 to be a peculiarity of the Windom that under such conditions the fruit-bearing canes die 

 just before the fruit matures. After plowing, the dewberry sprouts from the roots, 

 the grass and weeds grow enough to catch snow and afford winter protection, and the 

 next season the weeds furnish protection to both foliage and fruit. The fruit is larger 

 in dense shade than in full exposure to sun. I never saw such fine large dewberries as 

 we found this season on some almost forgotten vines of Lucretia which were growing in 

 a closely planted bearing plum row and which were completely covered by raspberry 

 suckers. The vines were small, but the berries were very large. Mr. Pickett one year 

 had a crop of extra fine Windoms among the weeds. The next season he kept the 

 plants clean and they produced nothing but nubbins. One spring I dug a lot of two- 

 year-old suckers, set them out and cultivated them well, and they produced, the same 

 season, a few very fine berries and no imperfect ones. The undisturbed row from which 

 the plants were taken produced only imperfect fruit." 



The following discussion of the Windom occurred at the annual winter meeting of 

 the Minnesota State Horticultural society in January, 1889: 



"Mr. Sias — Last year, fourteen miles north of Windom, 1 saw dewberries on good 

 rich soil that were of better quality than any I had ever seen before. 



' : Mr. Gould— They were cultivated? 



"Mr. Sias — Yes they were known as the Windom dewberry or Cook's Hardy 

 dewberry. 



"Mr. Smith— Mr. Pearse states he has seen both varieties growing and I would 

 enquire as to their shape, size, and color. 



"Mr. Pearse— The Lucretia was the larger but the Windom is much more productive. 

 The shape is a little oval. I grew them last year. 



"Prof. Green — Do you think they would be profitable as a market crop? 



"Mr. Pearse — I think the Windom will be very profitable indeed. I plant them in rows, 

 with the plants set two or three feet apart in the row, cultivate thoroughly, but carry 

 the runners around in matted rows. The fruit comes out on the top like strawberries. 

 I put mine out only last spring. Those I saw in bearing that I referred to were grown 

 by Mr. Stubbs of Long Lake. I raised a few last year and expect a nice crop another 

 season. I would put them on the poorest ground. 



"Mr. Dartt— And make make it rich? 



"Mr. Pearse— No, I would not. 



"Mr. Smith stated that he had seen a fine crop of dewberries growing wild in the 

 vicinity of Hamlin in the summer of 1881, and had examined in the locality each year 

 since but failed to find any. He had been to Mr. Cook's place and examined the Win- 

 dom and it resembled the berry just referred to. He had raised some fruit last year 

 but found it a very shy bearer. They might do better if covered until late in spring. 



"Mr. Harris — I think the dewberry is a native over every part of Minnesota. There 

 are patches of it in Houston county and have been for thirty-five years; in that time 

 there have been three crops. This past year the crop was immense; the vines were 

 loaded down with fruit. We have two distinct species. Occasionally we find a plant 

 a little different from those of Mr. Cook, but the majority have the same leaf and habit 

 of growth. The Windom does not branch so much as the common wild variety. Mr. 

 Cook has fruited it every year with one exception. While distinct, it is a variety of 



