98 ANNUAL BEPORT 



pete throughout with best eastern varieties. Put all regular seedling apple premiums on choice winter 

 ronclads. Striving for them, plenty of good ironclad summer and fall will come in, which, if worthy, 

 may receive special premiums. 



"How far north may we hopefully plant iroutlad appleseed?" I can only answer that I believe we 

 may confidently plant as far north as the native crab apple gi-ows. Careful e.xperiments alone can tell. 

 It might be you could grow trees on your soil when your next neighbor on his soil could not. 



Directions for starting seedling orchards in the northwest many northern horticulturists can give 

 better than I. But I will try to speak of (1.) Soil ; (3.) Location ; (3.) Seed ; (4.) Management. 



Soil. — Any good tree, corn or garden soil will do. In severe climates that soil is best which gives 

 the ripest, nearest ironclad growth. Soil too poor, enrich carefully with well-rotted barnyard manure 

 or the like. Trees dearly love ashes, leached or unleached. which are often best applied on the surface. 

 Coarse manure, hay, or straw, leaves, weeds, etc., make good mulch, which, decaying, enriches the 

 soil. Too clayey soil sand-dress, too sandy soil clay-dress. Special manures, salt, lime, land plaster' 

 bone dust, etc., I believe well worth careful trial. Don't burn straw and leaf piles, don't neglect ma- 

 nure heaps and the many other sources of soil enrichment. Teach children that waste is wicked — mur- 

 der in the first degree. 



Location. — For the farm nursery choose a side or corner of the garden well sheltered and protected 

 from winds, livestock, rabbits and mice. And now about locating orchards — in many sections orch- 

 ards on low ground are more liable to lose fruit, bloom and sets by late spring frosts. To prevent this,, 

 we formerly favored and still prefer rather high, dry, gentle slopes for fruit, choosing any slope rather 

 than the southern or southwestern. But since returning to Wisconsin in August, 1879, we have found 

 sound, profitable orchards on relatively low, level land and again on full southern slopes. We have 

 often been surprised at the wonderful adaptability of trees to widely varying locations and soils- 

 Glorious old King Apple Tree seems perfectly democratic, rearing his royal throne wherever a loyal 

 subject dwells. We note some failures chiefly on poor, windy, gravel knolls and wet, soggy ground. 

 Beforeplanting wet soils drain thoroughly. Tile underdrains are best, but surface draining, planting 

 every row on a heavy ridge with a deep dead furrow between in the middle, will help greatly. In 

 planting gravel knolls protect thoroughly from winds and dig out a pit where each tree is to stand and 

 put in a big cart load of strong loam to plant in. 



Seed. — If we can't get ironclad winter apple trees at the nurseries, where are we to get ironclad win- 

 ter apple seed to start with?" First, find ironclad winter apple trees and then arrange to secure the 

 seed. As we want everybody's help in this good work, so do we want seed from every hopeful source. 

 In a multitude of counsellors and varieties there is safety. Let us first look in the northwest, where 

 trees have been most thoroughly tested, in Minnesota, northern Iowa, central and uorthern Wisconsin, 

 then in Canada and northern or mountainous New England, last but not least, let us look through the 

 apple trees of northern Europe and Asia. Scattered over this vast expanse are doubtless thousands o' 

 glorious winter ironclads. But I believe within comparatively easy reach of northwestern horticultur- 

 ists and farmers there are ironclad trees the seed of which, if known and saved, would be literally worth; 

 to the country at large its weight, forty pounds to the bushel, in gold. The chances are that it can be 

 had for, at the very highest, the going price of the fruit. Until the seed of each particular tree or variety 

 is sowed by itself and tested, we must be guided by parent tree indications. 



"What kind of seed shall we try to get.'" That which combines the most strong points. (1.) Fresh 

 seed, {i.) From well-tested, vigorous, productive, winter, ironclad, grafted or seedling trees. (3 ) 

 From trees that hold the fruit well the season through, not dropping it in hard winds or drouth. (4.''' 

 Fruit that keeps well through winter, (5.) Of fine flavor. (6.) Of brilliant red or some other fine' 

 color. (7.) Of good size. There are some other points to be added as fast as possible: (1.) Annual 

 bearing trees. (2.) Blight proof trees. (3.) Trees that shape themselves, requiring little or no prun- 

 ing. (4.) With blooms and sets that stand late frosts the best. (5.) Earliest bearing trees or natural 

 dwarfs for small lots. Another point that will take long comparative trial to work out, what sortg. 

 possess the highest breeding capacity and will give from seed the best results in tree and fruit? Some 

 leading horticulturists think that at some future time, after long in-and-in breeding our best fruits may 

 be best propagated from seed. For such and many other experiments every State should have a splen- 

 did State agricultural and horticultural college— and will have whenever the people demand it. 



"How shall we get such choice seed?" Where there's a will there's a way. I believe if one-tenth of 

 the ironclad winter apple seed now wasted in cider domace, in kitchens, in eating fruit out of hand and 

 feeding live stock, were saved and utilized, we should have an ample supply for both nurserymen and 

 farmers. Ordinarily, who thinks of saving fruit seed? How quickly, almost spitefully the precious 

 seed is rejecte<i? Why not careful, discriminative saving and sowing of fruit seeds 1 The best time to 



