I02 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



better fruit and will also encourage blight in the varieties so in- 

 clined, thus giving us an opportunity of disposing of the bad blight- 

 ers before any further time is wasted upon them. Everything that 

 blighted to any extent was removed last year. 



It will be several years before all the seedlings at the station 

 come into bearing, and in the meantime we should experiment 

 further with the varieties which have been bearing for some time and 

 determine by piece-root grafting what they would do if propagated 

 in that manner. 



Some piece-root grafted trees do not do as well as the parent, 

 and many do a great deal better ; therefore I do not consider that 

 the experiment has been sufficient until different methods of propaga- 

 tion have been tried and on various kinds of soil. 



Our work at Owatonna will be seriously handicapped unless ad- 

 joining land can be secured, and if that cannot be done the work 

 should be extended to other parts of the state. 



Mr. T. E. Cashman : I will say that my attention has been 

 called to a matter that has received but little attention, to my knowl- 

 edge, from the average horticulturist, and that is, the depth to 

 which an apple tree should be planted. I find at the Owatonna ex- 

 periment station that shallow planted trees are considerably injured 

 in the root. I found where the roots were at a depth of five inches 

 the tree would kill. 



There is no question but what the seedlings at the Owatonna 

 station are as hardy as any produced in this part of the country. 

 Father Dartt began by planting seed of the hardy Orange crab, 

 the Virginia crab, the Hibernal and the Duchess, and we certain- 

 ly have hardiness at the Owatonna station. What we have to deter- 

 mine is the growing quality and the quality of the fruit. 



When speaking about depth of planting there is no question in my 

 mind but what it makes a difference in the hardiness of the root. If 

 you do not get the root down to where it is not subject to freezing 

 and thawing, it is going to be injured. My idea is that trees should 

 be planted at least twenty inches deep, to get the union at least a 

 foot below the surface of the ground. Put it down where this alter- 

 nate 'freezing and thawing in the winter is not going to affect the 

 tender roots. We had weather which thawed the ground from six 

 to ten inches, and there were places where the ground had thawed 

 to different depths, and where it had reached the roots they were in- 

 jured to that extent. It did not seem to injure the body of the tree, 

 but the httle roots, the feeders, were more or less injured. There- 

 fore, I think this is a question on which we should dwell with con- 

 siderable importance, planting the trees deep. 



Some will take trees and plant them deep in heavy soil. If your 

 soil is too heavy, you have got to drain it. You cannot give your 

 apple trees wet feet and expect them to exist. We have to plant 

 them deep in this countrx. It is easy to get rid of moisture by 



