222 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



productive plants from which to take cuttings or scions for propaga- 

 tion. The best tree, shrub or vine is none too good for planting, 

 and the great proportion of our choicest fruits have come from 

 these wise selections. 



The wonderful improvement of varieties made by Luther Bur- 

 bank in the last few years has given a great impetus to seedling 

 fruit raising, and many there are who have partaken of his en- 

 thusiasm for seed planting. There is a certain fascination about 

 seed planting that grows on one, till his zeal so increases that every 

 seed is looked upon as an embryo plant containing great possibilities 

 of fruit or flower. 



Plant seed ! Plant seed ! Watch and wait, wait and watch with 

 patient care the opening of tiniest bud or flower. Each has a 

 mission to perform, and there is no foretelling what splendid fruits 

 may yet come from the seed you save and plant. 



There is great economy of time in hoeing and weeding bush 

 and cane fruits in the fall, especially those not needing cover for 

 winter protection. It is much easier killing weeds, grass or foreign 

 growths, and helps advance the spring work. As much can be ac- 

 complished in one day in the fall as in a day and a half in the 

 spring, when the grass is firmly rooted. 



Currants, gooseberries and all hardy shrubs, which start an 

 early growth in spring, may be safely transplanted in the fall. 

 Raspberries (red and black), blackberries, grapes and all half hardy 

 and tender shrubs are best planted in the spring, after the ground 

 is warmed by sunshine and early showers. 



In the planting of all kinds of fruit and flowers the greatest 

 care should be taken to keep the roots well protected from drying 

 winds and sunshine. A very good way is to thoroughly wet some 

 burlap sacking to w^ap around the roots. If these timely precautions 

 were more often taken, there would be fewer complaints from 

 planters who patronize tree agents. Many farmers after receiving 

 nursery stock care for it much as they would a piece of machinery, 

 instead of treating it as a live tree whose sap cells soon dry up when 

 exposed to the air. 



I was out in the country where theyw'ere delivering trees. I 

 noticed farmers' wagons with bundles of trees in them without any 

 protection for the roots, and there was one man going up the 

 street with a bundle of trees on his shoulder. There w^as no straw 

 or anything of the sort in the wagons, and they dumped those trees 

 into the tail end of the wagon and then drove home from four to 

 fifteen miles in the country. Is it any wonder that trees die? 



