112 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



very early, but said he, "They were not sweet, and to me a pea with- 

 out sweetness is like a sweet potato without the sweet." In this he 

 was entirely right, and yet thousands of private planters use the 

 "Alaska" pea, when if they but knew of and would buy the " Alpha," 

 which is but three or four days later and which is a much older 

 variety, they would have a pea of infinitely finer flavor. 



In late peas, a great favorite is the Telephone, and it is popular 

 not only with the market gardener but with the consumer. It is 

 liked by the former because it has a very large pod, and a bushel 

 basket is quickly filled. It is favored by the consumer because it is 

 sweet and of delicate flavor, and yet how many American house- 

 wives know th^t a half bushel of Telephone peas, for which they 

 pay a high price because they are Telephones, does not yield as 

 many shelled peas as a peck of " Prince of Wales," which is equally 

 desirable, if not of better table quality. 



It is to be greatly regretted that private planters or purchasers of 

 vegetables on the market should not be better posted as to the com- 

 parative merits of the different varieties, and that they are not more 

 correctly informed is largely the fault of those seedsmen who use 

 their catalogues as a means of humbugging their patrons instead 

 of educating them along correct lines. 



If the U. S. Government would devote one-fourth the amount of 

 money now annually expended in the distribution of ancient varie- 

 ties of seeds towards establishing under competent supervision 

 trial grounds in which all alleged new varieties should be tested 

 and proved before it was allowed to offer them for sale, and to 

 permit no seed catalogue to contain any other than official descrip- 

 tions of varieties, a genuine service would be rendered, not only to 

 seed purchasers but to that class of seedsmen who seek to appeal 

 to the common sense instead of the imagination of their customers 



PREPARATION FOR ORCHARD PLANTING. 



E. COOPER, ADRIAN. 



In preparing ground for orchard planting, I would either summer 

 fallow it the year previous to planting the orchard or plant it to 

 some cultivated crop, such as corn or potatoes. I would let no foul 

 weeds or grass go to seed on the ground. Keep the ground thor- 

 oughly cultivated to insure moisture, and plow the following 

 spring, and follow the plow with a subsoiler to well break up the 

 ground deeply, thus giving a good chance for the growing trees to 

 root deep, and also for the ground to hold and contribute moisture 

 for them. 



The ground should be thoroughly harrowed and kept mellow the 

 first year after planting. 



I do not think it advisable to plant any crop the first year in a 

 newly planted orchard in our locality, as one can attend to an 

 orchard and keep it in much better condition if there is nothing 

 planted in between the rows of trees. 



