142 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Elliot : You said the Marlboro is not reliable on sandy soil ? 



Mr. Lord: No. 



Mr. Elliot: In the Minnetonka district it is one of the most 

 reliable we have. 



Mr. Lord : That may be true. There is a man within a mile 

 of me that cannot grow a certain kind of strawbery that I grow, 

 however, with marked success. There is a great deal of difference 

 in soil and climate. 



Mr. J. C. Hawkins : In regard to plums — how is the Brittle- 

 wood in regard to bearing? 



Mr. Lord : With me it does not do well at all. 



Mr. Hawkins : Perhaps you have not got it true ? 



Mr. Lord: I got it from Father Harris. 



Mr. Seth Kenney : You spoke of the Rathbun blackberry — do 

 you cultivate that? 



Mr. Lord : I have a very few, indeed ; I do not cultivate much. 



Mr. Kenney: Are they as hardy as some of the others? 



Mr. Lord : They are not as hardy as the Ancient Briton or the 

 Snyder, but they are an excellent berry. 



OWATONNA TRIAL STATION. 



THOS. E. CASHMAN, SUPT. 



Owing to the fact that the work at the trial station at Owatonna 

 this season has been confined pretty much to cutting out worthless 

 trees and thinning out the others to relieve the crowded condition 

 of the grounds, my report will be necessarily brief. Fully three- 

 fourths of the trees of a year ago have been cut out and burned, 

 leaving only the varieties showing some promise. The late lamented 

 Mr. Dartt, in his anxiety for quick results in fruit, practiced girdling 

 to a considerable degree, and while it resulted in a quicker show of 

 fruit the trees showed but slight development. I have discontinued 

 girdling for the present and aided by the propitious weather of the 

 past season and the better opportunity for cultivation through the 

 thinning out of the trees, have encouraged a vigorous and satis- 

 factory growth. 



We are handicapped for further experimentation by the limited 

 grounds allowed us for planting. The present space originally set 

 aside is growing every tree it can take care of, and I have been 

 obliged to extend the experimental work to our own nursery 

 grounds. 



There are a large number of very promising varieties at this 

 experiment station, but all will not come into bearing for some 

 time. Probably the best of the new varieties at the station is the 

 Phoenix No. 50. It shows great promise as a nursery tree, is very 



