346 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



MY COMMERCIAL ORCHARD. 



J. F. BENJAMIN_, HUTCHINSON. 



My experience in orcharding has been principally limited to 

 the past six years, except when a boy at home on the old farm near 

 Hutchinson, McLeod county, where my life was spent from April, 

 1861, to 1890. Here I helped plant out 200 to 300 apple and pear 

 trees and many wild plums. The apple and pear trees were nearly 

 all a failure, as was the case with most orchards planted out in 

 Minnesota in the early seventies. There were forty to fifty crabs 

 and a few Duchess survived for several years, and at the present 

 time there still remain of the original planting about thirty crab 

 apple trees, which bear annually, mostly Transcendents. 



I was married in October, 1889, and the following spring with 

 my wife left the old home, taking Horace Greeley's advice, "Go 

 west, young man." We struck out for Pierce county, Nebraska, and 

 settled on a piece of wild land eight miles from the town of Pierce. 

 Here we toiled hard for ten years. During that time I broke up 

 over 800 acres of raw prairie, and my time was spent in raising 

 small grain, corn and stock, and also the last few years fed several 

 carloads of cattle, sheep and hogs, which I shipped to the South and 

 to Omaha and Chicago markets. I also during this time planted out 

 several acres of timber for windbreaks, and at once perceived the 

 idea of using a check wire from one of my corn planters, in order 

 to get my trees in line each way. I was so well satisfied with the 

 result, that now I would not think of planting out an orchard or 

 grove without a check wire. This wire is three feet eight inches 

 between buttons and has a coupling every four rods. I take off 

 as many of these four rod lengths as I need so as not to be bothered 

 with the whole roll. I use this implement also in planting strawber- 

 ries, raspberries, currants and all small fruits, and many kinds of 

 vegetables in the garden. I do dislike to see crooked rows about as 

 bad as I do to deal with a crooked man. 



In the .spring of 1900 we closed out our effects in Nebraska and 

 returned to Hutchinson, and bought a bare piece of land adjoining 

 the city limits on the east. Choosing here a beautiful location, I 

 built a home and have christened it "Highland Home," where all 

 horticulturists will receive a cordial welcome, and I shall be pleased 

 to show them through my young commercial orchards, which I will 

 try here to explain, my mode of planting, care, etc. 



In the first place I have my land plowed deep in the fall and 

 harrowed down well, and either rolled or floated. I have adopted 



