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MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



SOME PRAIRIE PROBLEMS IN ORCHARDS. 



PROF. A. T. ERWIN, AMES, lA. 



The remark was recently made by a prpminent horticulturist 

 that "The great inland empire of the Middle West must work out 

 for itself a pomology distinctly its own." This statement is preg- 

 nant in its suggestiveness. In the Southwest, and especially in the 

 East, this work was accomplished years ago. Then why is it neces- 

 sary to do it over again ? Is our environment peculiar, and are our 

 conditions different? The answer to this question, drawn both 

 from a careful study of prairie conditions, and also from the light 

 of past experience, is emphatically, yes. 



Distribution of forest land in the United States. 



Granting this to be true, it may then be interesting to inquire as 

 to what are the factors that enter into the problems of the prairie 

 planter, and in what respects are they peculiar. It is a much dis- 

 cussed question as to which exerts the greater influence, heredity 

 or environment. Be this as it may, it is certain that in any case 

 environment plays a very large part in the life of the plant, and the 

 entire attention of the grower is concerned with the various problems 

 it presents. Environment concerns itself with two factors, climate 

 and food-supply. Climatically then, what are our conditions? 



One of the most important factors, from the standpoint of climate 

 in its relation to plant-growth, is that of rain-falL Water plays a 

 very important part in plant-development. A soft maple, for ex- 

 ample, when felled in the dormant season of winter, by weight is 

 over eighty-five per cent water, and even in case of our hard wooded 

 trees, such as the black oak, it is sixty per cent water. 



