176 HISTORY OF HORTICULTURE IN MINNESOTA. 



to select such as were best calculated to shelter farms, and could most easily 

 be procured. He said the Scotch Pine was a beautiful tree and easily grown. 



Judge Baker would take out the Red Cedar, and would rather have the 

 Austrian Pine. 



Gen. Nutting would put the Ked Ceder at the head of the list, as it stood 

 more abuse than any other evergreen, and was easily transplanted. Besides, 

 as Mr. Grimes remarked, it could be trimmed into any shape. 



Mr. Harris said he had succeeded with the Austrian Pine, and could recom- 

 mend that. 



Mr. Ford wanted to see more natives planted, rather than some of those 

 named. The Austrian Pine had been killed as he knew. Minneapolis planted 

 ten cedars to one of Scotch or Austrian Pine, the latter having, in many cases 

 not succeeded well. He had never seen anything excel a Balsam Fir, such as 

 now grew in Mrs. Goheem's yard, on sandy soil, in Minneapolis. As a rule, 

 people selected Balsam Fir in preference to most others. The Ked Cedar was 

 indeed a good tree, and, as had been remarked, could be trimmed into any 

 shape. 



Col. Stevens moved that the report be laid over until to-morrow. 



The Chairman announced that the next business in order was an address 

 by Mr. Harris, on "The planting and cultivation of market orchards, the 

 benefits to be derived from mulching, and the best material for that purpose." 

 Mr. Harris thereupon read his essay, as follows : 



KEPOET ON FRUIT GROWING FOR MARKF'l'. 



Although I have had an experience of 15 years in this State, I have many misgivings about 

 presenting this paper to the Horticultural Society, and yet I have made a successor the 

 business. 



There is no doubt but that fruit growing for market will prove to be profitable, even in this 

 State, when the right location is selected, the right kind of trees are planted, and the right 

 kind of men go into the business; but there are locations so unfavorable, trees so worthless, 

 and men so careless, that there will always be cases of loss. One of the most essential things 

 towards success is the man who takes hold of the business. He should understand the nature 

 of soils, the habits of trees, and the best method of cultivation for his native locality; he 

 should love the business, and have faith in it; be careful, diligent, find observing, and espe- 

 cially so in this State, where we have so many unfavorable circumstances to contend with 

 and so little horticultural knowledge that is derived from exporience. 



LOCATION. 



The best location would be in the vicinity of some city or thriving village, or near a railroad 

 or navigable river, and no advantage of soil or aspect cDuld fully make up for an unfavorable 

 location. The next essential point toward success is the selection of the soil and its prepa- 

 ration previous to planting. The universal experience of apple orcharding is, that sandy 

 loam is the best of all soils; that elevated or high land is better than valleys, and that there 

 must be good drainage, either natural or artificial, and that the aspect is of minor impor- 

 tance. It is very unwise to plant trees without a previous thorough preparation of the soil. 

 Several plowings are essential, and if the land is nearly level, the plowing should be done 

 with the view to leaving the ground in ridges corresponding, in width, to the distance apart 

 the trees are to be planted. 



From the experience and observation I have had, I would recommend planting apple trees 

 16 feet apart each way, with a view of removing alternate trees as they become crowded, 

 except upon open prairies ; there I would plant about 12 feet apart, and about every tenth row 

 to evergreens. By planting thus close no crops can be taken from the ground after two or 

 three years, which is a great saving of the fertility of the soil, and obviates the necessity of 

 mulching, of which I shall speak at another time. Experience has proved that Spring is the 



