STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 2<>0 



BUYING TREES. 



'*Ho\v am I going to get my trees and what varieties shall I se- 

 lect? I live a hundred miles from any good nursery and I am not 

 acquainted with varieties/' says one. I answer, if an agent comes 

 along representing a good establishment, I should order of him 

 and have ray trees delivered in the fall. I am ashamed of this so- 

 ciety, as progressive as it is in many things, that on this one point 

 it has shown such a weakness as to warn and continually warn, at 

 every meeting and without exception, people against what they 

 choose to term "tree peddlers." How, I ask, can any wholesale 

 dealer in any commodity dispose of his wares unless through trav- 

 eling men? There is not a jobbing house in St. Paul or Minne- 

 apolis but that keeps from one to a dozen men out soliciting ; and 

 when a responsible firm sends out a man to represent them and 

 take orders, I say buy of him, unless you can go to the nursery 

 yourself. To say that the agent is dishonest, is to say that the 

 firm he represents are swindlers. If they represent and do not fill 

 orders true to name, then it is time to condemn, and post them. 

 But I would n't buy out of the State. The nearer home you can 

 get your stock the better. 



FALL OR SPRING DELIVERY. 



I want to advise you by all means to buy in the fall. When you 

 get your trees bury them in as dry a place as you can find, root and 

 branch. Don't let a single twig be exposed, for you will find 

 usually that at the juncture where the earth at the surface comes 

 around the bark, it will be injured by freezing and thawing. If 

 you have your trees on hand in the fall they can be set early in the 

 spring, which is a great advantage. You are always so busy, too, 

 in the spring that you have not the time to go after them, and for 

 this reason fall delivery is better. 



VARIETIES TO PLANT. 



I know of only one perfectly hardy valuable standard tree, and 

 this is the Duchess of Oldenburg. It is a splendid fall apple and 

 one of the best cooking varieties we have. The Wealthy comes 

 next, and while not as hardy as the first named, still passes by the 

 name of iron-clad. These two should be the main varieties. There 

 are some new seedlings of promise that are hardy and which, 



