480 



horticulture: 



April 11, 190S 



daughters and a sou. He was fonu of 

 home life and indulgently devoted to 

 his family. 



Mrs. Bernard Beers. 

 Pauline, wift of Bernanl Beers, of 

 Denver. Oolo., died on March 26, as 

 the result of an oreration. Mrs. Beers 

 was a valuable assistant to her hus- 

 band in his business for many years 

 and was highly esteemed. 



HORTICULTURE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA. 



John Davidson. 

 John Davidson, the landscape gar- 

 dener who laid out Pine Banks park, 

 Maiden, Mass., of which place ho was 

 superintendent from 1887 to 1904, died 

 on April 1 in his seventieth year. He 

 was born in Lanark, Scotland. 



George O'Brien. 

 George O'Brien of Lenox, Mass., 

 died on .Vpril 5, after a brief illness, 

 aged 26. He had ably assisted his 

 father in his greenhouses and had 

 made many friends. 



Samuel Gass. 



Sanuiel Gass, a lifetime resident ol 

 Pittsburg. Pa., and for many years en- 

 gaged in the florist business there, 

 died March 2(; at the age of 64. 



Christopher Hansjosten. 



Christopher Hansjosten, florist at 

 Mt. Elliott Cemetery, Detroit, Mich., 

 died on March 25. 



NATIONAL APPLE SHOW. 



One thousand dollars in gold will be 

 awarded as a special prize to the 

 grower of the best single apple exhib- 

 ited at the national apple show in the 

 Spokane (Wash.) State Armory, Dec. 

 7 to 14, 1908. The competition is open 

 to the world. In addition, prizes ag- 

 gregating $14,000 and numerous tro- 

 phies, medals, banners and ribbons 

 will be hung up for exhibits in other 

 classes. 



Offlcers of the Spokane County Hor- 

 ticultural Association, headed by H. 

 \V. Greenburg, under whose auspices 

 the exposition will be held, have com- 

 pleted preliminary arrangements for 

 the incorporation of the National Ap- 

 ple Show Society under the laws of 

 Washington, with a capitalization of 

 $100,000, which will be immediately 

 subscribed by local people. 



Growers in all parts of the United 

 States and Canada, as well as Europe, 

 will be invited to send exhibits for 

 competition. Advices already at hand 

 are that growers in the provinces of 

 Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Alberta 

 and British Columbia, and New York, 

 Maine, California, Ohio, Michigan, 

 Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Massachu- 

 setts and several other eastern and 

 middle-western states vnll enter as 

 contestants, and it is known that prac- 

 tically every recognized district in the 

 Northwestern and Pacific states will 

 be represented. 



The primary object of the organiza- 

 tion is to popularize the apple as the 

 great national fruit, by creating a 

 greater demand for high grade fruit 

 at prices which will leave a profit to 

 the grower without working a hard- 

 ship upon the consumer. The plan is 

 to educate the people to the knowl- 

 edge that there is nothing more health- 

 ful than a good apple to begin and end 

 the day. Thus will the apple come 

 into its own as the king of fruits. 



Work in horticulture at the Univer- 

 sity of Minnesota is given considerable 

 attentio;\ It is given under two dis- 

 tinct heads. The first includes a 

 course in horticulture extending over 

 a period of two years in the high 

 school of agriculture, in which there 

 was an attendance this year of 582. 

 Horticulture is required of all the 

 students of this course. It is grouped 

 under four heads, fruit growing, vege- 

 table gardening, forestry and green- 

 house laboratory work. The two first- 

 mentioned subjects are largely ex- 

 plained by their titles. Forestry here 

 includes only farm forestry, and orna- 

 mental planting in a general way. 

 Greenhouse laboratory work includes 

 actual v/ork in budding grafting, the 

 making of cuttings, sowing seeds, 

 packing plants, and other exercises, 

 all of which is done in the greenhouse 

 in the winter. To handle such a large 

 number of students requires very 

 careful systemization of the work. 



The College of .Agriculture is a con- 

 tinuation of the work begun in the 

 school, or students may enter the 

 college from other high schools. 

 The courses offered in horticulture. 

 In this college are fruit and 



\egetable growing, systematic pa- 

 niology, plant breeding, nursery 

 work, greenhouse management and 

 floriculture, landscape gardening. 

 In the way of research work this de- 

 partment has a well-equipped green- 

 house of about 2500 square feet, and 

 thirty acres of land at the central ex- 

 periment station, and two special fruit 

 breeding stations embracing ninety- 

 two, or a total of 122 acres. 



The breeding of fruits adapted to the 

 cold climate of Jlinnesota and adjoin- 

 ing states is a work of much interest 

 to this department, and for which it 

 receives libeial appropriations. 



Professor Samuel B. Green has been 

 in charge of the horticultural work at 

 this station for twenty years. He has 

 two special assistants in horticulture, 

 two superintendents of fruit farms, and 

 one foreman. He is a Massachusetts 

 boy and a graduate of the Massachu- 

 setts .Agricultural College. 



THE BEST TEN OUTDOOR RHODO- 

 DENDRONS FOR AMERICA. 



H. Waterer of Philadelphia, on be- 

 ing asked to state which in his opin- 

 ion were the most reliable rhododen- 

 drons in this climate, gave the follow- 

 ing list; Album elegans, Album ele- 

 gans grandiflorum. Pnrpureum elegans, 

 Purpureum elegans grandiflorum. Ro- 

 sea elegans, Everestianum, Chas. Dick- 

 ens, H. W. Sargent, Caractacus, Lady 

 Armstrong. 



