258 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



to its best. " He had been trying to see what could be done 

 with a few lots, and he was gratified with the results. His 

 paper showed how much of beauty and utility a busy man 

 could get out of a small piece of ground. The subject did not 

 seem large when he commenced on it, but it grew as he un- 

 folded it. 



Wyman Elliott of Minneapolis, that veteran in horticulture, 

 gave some short "chop talks" hints gathered here and there. 



He emphasized one point we wish to note. There is now 

 special attention given to raising seedling apples from the 

 hardiest kinds. He said the seedlings should stand till they 

 were two to three years old, and then pick out those that had 

 the largest and healthiest leaves and the smoothest twigs. That 

 the crooked, thorny ones with small leaves never could amount 

 to anything and should go on the brush pile to begin with. 



PROBLEMS OF THE PRAIRIE. 



Prof. Erwin of Ames, Iowa, gave an interesting paper on 

 "Prairie Problems," and some of the difficulties to be encoun- 

 tered. First, there is less rainfall on the prairie than in the 

 timber belts; timber grew where it did because there the most 

 rainfall came. Again, the winds were unobstructed on the 

 prairie, and they pumped out the moisture. Wind at thirty 

 miles an hour drank up more moisture in one day than would 

 be absorbed in calm weather in a week, and this emjihasized the 

 need of evergreen wind breaks, which would deflect the wind 

 upward. 



Another difficulty in orcharding on the prairies was, good 

 rich ground was very poor orchard ground. The trees grew 

 too rank and made wood rather than fruit. Land somewhat 

 broken, with clayey soil was better for apples. 



Preston McCully of Maple Plain read a very helpful paper on 

 ginseng culture, at which he seemed quite successful. Then 

 the meeting was confronted by the ginseng disease bulletin of 

 Cornell, giving warning to six dangerous diseases which were 

 getting away with these roots rapidly. 



George W. Strand, who is an up-to-date nurseryman and hor- 

 ticultural editor of one of our great farm papers, gave an inter- 



