378 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



in a box and there were some lying on the outside that were not 

 wrapped, and those lying outside without paper were the best. 

 They kept two or three months. 



The Chairman : Mr. McLeran has a fine root cellar ; we would 

 like to hear from him. 



Mr. F. B. McLeran ; I make a practice of storing from one 

 to two thousand bushels of vegetables every year, and the com- 

 mission men tell me that the vegetables they get from me are the 

 best they get in April. My cellar is a root cellar built of concrete 

 and is entirely covered with earth. My theory is this : a cellar cov- 

 ered with earth is a great deal better from the fact that any change 

 of temperature is gradual. If any sudden change takes place it 

 takes two or three days for the outside temperature to affect that 

 on the inside : I took a thermometer in the cellar and watched it very 

 carefully, and it kept at just 42 degrees. We have eighteen inches 

 of soil on top of the logs, and that is the only covering it has in the 

 spring when the snow is on. But in the spring before the snow 

 is gone and while it is still frozen, I put on a covering of manure 

 with the idea of retaining the cold as long as possible, and by re- 

 taining this frost it makes the cellar practically a refrigerator. In 

 the fall I leave the door open during the day and cover the opening 

 with burlap to keep the light out, and I try to cool the ccllnr off as 

 rapidly as possible. In the spring when the weather begins to get 

 warm I open the door at night and keep it closed during the day- 

 time. When the weather gets warm, I am as particular to keep the 

 door closed to keep the cold in as I am to keep it closed to keep the 

 heat out. 



APPLE BLIGHT AND WHAT IT IS. 



EVERETT SPEAK, NORTHFIELD. 



Apple blight is a fungus that first breeds in the soil, and is in 

 a dormant condition most of the time. It is very active in wet, hot 

 weather, and during this time it starts out on its work of destruc- 

 tion. 



It seeks out broken or bruised roots and gets into the sap and 

 thus into the tree, where it remains ready to spring into activity in 

 wet, hot weather. It breeds rapidly as it goes on with its work m 

 the sap. In its most virulent stage it oozes out through limbs and 

 leaves, drawing insects and worms, that feed on the fungus and the 

 sick, weak victim, the tree. 



The fungus is the least noticable where there is the most pot- 

 ash in the soil; hence, I conclude that potash is a very important 

 remedy, as well as a preventive. 



Most every house- wife knows that soap suds Is beneficial to 



