WINDOM TRIAL STATION. 



6l 



tree of the silver cedar, received from Clarence Wedge, spring of 

 1900, is doing nicely and is admired by all who view it. 



A few general notes on the behavior of trees at this station, and 

 I will close. The apples and crabs do the poorest on the highest 

 lands and best on the more nearly level land. This is owing no 

 doubt to the lack of sufficient moisture and a greater liability to 

 root injury on the higher land. Blighting varieties blight most on 

 the higher lands. A windbreak on the south and west of an orchard 

 is very important in keeping the fruit from blowing off the trees. 

 Plums do best on the higher lands ; there is quite a lot of alkali in 

 the soil of my lower land, and even when well drained and heavily 

 manured the plum trees do not do well in that kind of soil. 



MEADOW VALE TRIAL STATION. 



(PRIVATE STATION. ) A. W. KEAYS, SUPT. 



The results of our work the past year are very encouraging. 

 Several of the new varieties of apples bore this year for the first 

 time. Those on hardy roots gave the finest specimens, and the 

 trees also made the best growth. Trees on common seedling roots 

 have not done well since the winter of 1900, and although grow- 

 ing slowly I think they will not recover from the shock. We must 

 have a hardier root than the common seedling; rooting from the 

 scion will not do. In this part of Minnesota a few will root, but 

 they are not reliable, and several of the scion roots kill as easily as 

 the seedlings. 



Our Charlamoff root grafts of 1896 on hardy roots again bore 

 this year twice as many apples as last, and every apple was per- 

 fect. We took first prize at the state fair on them. ' It has been 

 stated by many fruit growers that scions from bearing trees will 

 fruit earlier than those from trees that have not borne, but the 

 Charlamoff trees from which those scions were cut for root grafts 

 of 1896 have not fruited yet. 



Some of those hardy roots were planted in the most exposed 

 part of our grounds in a row with several others supposed to be 

 hardy, but they were all frozen out except those hardy roots, and 

 they are growing finely. Where the seedling roots were protected 

 by mulch they were not injured, but where they were exposed they 

 were killed. By actual tests here about one seedling in one hun- 

 dred stood the winter of 1900 without mulch protection. This part 

 of our orchard was not protected by snow nearly all winter. One 

 seedling of Patten Greening came out in fine condition. 



I examined some of the large peach orchards of Michigan in 

 October last and found they had protected the roots of their trees 



