100 ANNUAL REPORT 



make the beet of it. Lying down at the very outset will not make you master eT«H as far as it can be 

 mastered, I don't know and you don't know what cau be done in a new country until you try. I be- 

 lieve in our glorious, rugged pioneers. As well as I know in fruit matters, I am offering them the key 

 to the whole situation. 



Were I a farmer I would plant fruit seed, take a farm paper, plant a sugar orchard, plenty of timber 

 and sorglium, beloni; to a farmer's club, learn how and teach my children how to bud and graft, if I 

 knew anything about it; our farmers bitterly need more horticultural knowledge and skill. 



Sow apple seed very early, as soon as the gr(Jund will do to work in spring. A.s before remarked, 

 sow on ground well sheltered, thoroughly protected from wind, live 'stock, rabbits and mice In light 

 soil fresh seed or new pomace can be sown in the fall, muIclUng just after ground freezes to keep the 

 ground soft and moist over winter. Early in the spring take off the mulch, cover apple seed in rows or 

 drills an inch deep, pressing the soil pretty firmly over the seed. When the seed is up weed and hoe a.s 

 with young vegetables, killing worms and insects as fast as they appear. The young seedlings the tirst 

 fall should be, say a foot high, root grafts rather taller. If the trees stand too thick, thin out to six or 

 eight inches in the row, burying those taken up root and branch, covering roots a foot deep, treading 

 the soil tirmly on the root and covering the ground after it freezes with six or eight inches of permanent 

 mulch to keep the roots from weather changes and extremes. Seedlings winter well in moist not wet 

 din, in a cool, frost-proof cellar, best in a mice proof box. Early in spring shorten roots to eight 

 inches and plant an inch deeper than they grew in the nursery, rows four feet apart, and six or eight 

 inches apart in the row. 



To winter seedlings where they grow just before the ground freezes, haul up eight inches of dii-t in the 

 row just after the ground freezes, mulch all over with six inches of manure or something that will keep 

 in place and not harbor mice. Next spring take away mulch and dirt, then weed or hoe up to July 15. 

 After that let the soil harden and w -"ds will help check and ripen off growth perfectly before cold 

 weather. Any late growing t pinch and drop off Sept. 15. Before the ground freezes the second 

 fall the trees, n»w about . ^ feet high, should be well ridged up, say twelve inches in the row. To 

 protect roots mulch a» .n the tirst fall. To protect tops against snow-drifts, severe cold, rabbits and 

 mice, set bandies of straw, hay, flax or cornstalks solid on each side of the row. In nurseries over win- 

 ter, I have never seen any protection for tree tops or bodies above ridges of dirt plowed against the 

 rows. But in farm nurseries I would prefer greatly to protect every fall and so keep on the safe side. 

 The first three or four winters from seed or graft, trees are most subject to (1.) Killing back in top; (2.) 

 Blackheart in bodies ; (3.) Root killing in dry freezing and thawing ground. 



Against all three dangers we protect by (1.) Ironclad seedlings or ironelad grafts on ironclad root 

 (3.) Cultivating early in season only, pinching off any late shoots Sept. 25, to secure perfect maturity 

 of growth; (3.) Thorough fall ridging up in row; (4.) Thorough mulching in fall overwinter; (5.) 

 Thorough protection of bodies and tops while trees are young with bundles of straw or the like as al- 

 ready mentioned — such protecting straw and dirt to be removed early every spring. 



In three or four years from seed trees should be five to seven feet high and fit to transplant into the 

 orchard. Trees got through the first three or four winters perfectly sound are much more certain to re. 

 main permanently sound and healthy. Prune if you must in the spring, but an ounce of preventive 

 nipping, pinching, shaping tops just at the right time when shoots are starting is worth a pound of 

 compulsory after pruning. In severe climates I must prefer low heads commencing only a foot or two 

 above ground. In handling trees do not expose the roots to the sun, air or frost. Keep roots always 

 moist and covered well under ground with dirt trod on them. 



Until uorthwe-itern nurrerymen are well supplied with choice grafted winter ironclads why not for 

 orchard planting grow seedlings from best winter ironclad seed ? There need be no fear of having too 

 many seedling winter ironclads from which to select future best cultivated varieties. To select out 

 such varieties must take many years of trial. 



I repeat, sow ironclad winter apple seed. The poorest farmer or lot-owner or child of such may grow 

 only one seedling that in tree and fruit may excel all competitors. 



Sow ironclad pear seed or the hardiest you can get. Next to apple, nothing so needed, so promising 

 in the west as pears from hardy seed. 



Sow hardy plum seeds, especially of our most delicious native plums. Large, luscious, beautiful na- 

 tive plums are grown in Northern Dakota along the line of the Northern Pacific railroad. Let ns get 

 sprouts and seeds to try in our several localities. 



Sow hardy cherry seed, inclading seeds of the best sorts of the hardy, late, prolific native black 

 cherry. I have seen fruit of this of nearly twice the common size and better in proportion. 



