258 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Elliot: That is the condition of the Americana pium in 

 Texas. 



Prof. Hansen : That is a good illustration. At the American 

 Pomological Society meeting last September, Prof. Munson of Den- 

 ison, Texas, said the Americana plums winter-kill in Texas. Hard- 

 iness means the adaptation of a plant to the conditions where it is 

 attempted to grow it. and it has reference not only to cold but to 

 heat' also. In regard to the hardiness of an apple, the Iowa hor- 

 ticultural society and the experiment station spent a considerable 

 sum of money in trying to find out what hardiness was in an apple. 

 First, a series of chemical analyses of apple tree twigs was made. 

 Then the wood was examined under a high power microscope to 

 determine the .difference in cell structure between tender and hardy 

 varieties. Then they thought it might be a difference in the thick- 

 ness and palisade structure of the leaves. But nothing tangible was 

 determined in the way of deciding what constitutes hardiness. 

 I do not believe it is in the structure. There may be a correlation 

 between the plant and the leaf, but whether or not hardiness is 

 something apparent in the structure of the plant I do not believe 

 has ever been determined. 



Mr. Thos. E. Cashman : There have been some very valuable 

 points brought out in this discussion. Professor Hansen is doing a 

 great and noble work in bringing out these new varieties, and I hope 

 some day he may meet the goal of his ambition and find a straw- 

 berry plant that does not rust and will not need covering, and will 

 pull through the winter under any condition. But until he and the 

 other gentlemen who are working- along this line accomplish their 

 purpose, we shall have to meet the conditions as we find them. We 

 have got to do the best we can with what we have at hand. In or- 

 der to do this we must plant vigorous stock, and when our plants 

 are planted we must take care of them. We must give them 

 thorough cultivation, and thorough cultivation will assist in retain- 

 ing the moisture. And with thorough cultivation must go spray- 

 ing. We have to spray the varieties we are propagating. If we do 

 not our plants will become weakened before winter sets in, and 

 thev are more likely to winter-kill than if they go into winter quart- 

 ers in first class condition. If we have not sufficient moisture we 

 must supply that moisture. I believe, as Mr. Underwood says, we 

 must have moisture ; it is very essential to the proper growing of all 

 varieties of plants, and one of the ways of furnishing and retaining 

 moisture in the soil is by cultivation, thorough cultivation, and if 

 that does not suffice we must irrigate. Then we must protect 

 that moisture in another way. and that is by mulching. We 

 may have plenty of moisture when winter sets in, but if we have a 

 freezing and thawing winter it may kill the strawberry plants all 

 the same if they are not protected. If conditions are right, if we 

 have plenty of moisture, good vigorous plants, covered properly, 

 handled and properly sprayed, ninety-nine times out of a hundred 

 we will get a good crop of strawberries ; but we must be vigilant, 

 and we must keep in mind and look after all the various details, 

 and if we do that we shall get along nicely with what we have at 

 hand. 



