348 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



tually fail. Too few elms, silver maples, green ash and hack- 

 berries have been planted. 



In the artificial prairie grove, forest conditions are rarely 

 established. Those plantations have done the best that have 

 been made of mixed varieties of trees from the forest nearest at 

 hand. 



NURSERY AND ORCHARD CONDITIONS IN MINNE- 

 SOTA IN JULY, 1906. 



PROF. F. L. WASHBURN, STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



(Aug. number was made up when this was received. Ed.) - 

 Having just completed our annual tour of inspection of the 

 nurseries of this state, it may be of interest to the readers of the 

 Horticulturist to learn something of the conditions prevalent in 

 nurseries and orchards at this date. As a rule nursery stock is look- 

 ing in good condition, and nurserymen report a prosperous business. 

 North Dakota seems to be the Mecca of agents, for farmers there 

 are reported to be very prosperous and willing to spend money. It 

 would seem, from a list of some of the fruit trees sent there, that 

 our neighbors on the west have yet to learn something regarding 

 the hardiness or lack of hardiness of certain varieties of apples 

 planted in this latitude. It is even rumored that they are buying 

 North Dakota peaches. Nurserymen are complaining bitterly of the 

 Alontana inspection law, which calls for a license of $25 to outside 

 nurserymen sending stock into the scate, in addition to a thousand 

 dollar bond. This seems to be an unjust discrimination and looks 

 as though it were the result of local interests in that state. 



This is evidently an off year in the apple crop, and yet in Dodge 

 County we saw many trees in bearing, probably more in Dodge 

 County than in any other part of the state visited. In several places 

 we observed the Peerless coming to the front with quite good crops. 

 In one favored locality we saw three or more red Astrachans, five to 

 seven years old, well loaded with fruit, and in another nursery we 

 saw a row of Jonathans, which had stood there for three years and 

 seemed to be in good condition, although not making much growth. 

 At Fairmont a large pear tree, possibly ten or twelve years old, 

 was loaded with pears, the variety being unknown to the nursery- 

 man and to the entomologist. In West Concord and in some other 

 towns a very praiseworthy habit exists of planting apple trees out- 

 side the sidewalk for shade trees, making a fine appearance, and 

 they certainly are practical. Mr. Cowles, of West Concord, told 



