l62 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



perfectly bright, showing- that the terrible freeze of Jan. 8th, 1873, 

 had not injured it at all. One of the branches about this time was 

 top-grafted to the Wealthy, which bore three years, but was forced 

 out by the greater vigor of the Greening, or perhaps for want of 

 adaptibility between the two. 



"The soil on which it stands is by no means well suited to the 

 apple. So far as we can remember it has not failed to bear some 

 apples for twenty-two years. It bore a good crop last year, and 

 made a growth of from ten to twelve inches, and we expect it to 

 bear a fine crop the coming season. It seems to be widely adapted 

 to northern latitudes. Prof. W. M. Munson, of the Maine Experi- 

 ment Station, says that it is doing exceptionally well in northern 

 Maine. The winter of 1884-5, tnat killed a good many Duchess 

 trees completely and killed spurs and branches on other trees, left 

 the Patten's Greening less injured than the Duchess on my grounds, 

 with but a single exception." Sec'y. 



CULTIVATION OF THE COMMERCIAL ORCHARD 

 BEFORE AND AFTER BEARING. 



ROY UNDERWOOD, I.AKE CITY. 



It has come to be a maxim of horticulture that "cultivation 

 conserves moisture" and is, therefore, a practice that is, in some 

 degree, necessary to fruit growing. Other preventives of evapor- 

 ation are put into use, it is true. Mulches are employed, and the 

 need of groves to break the force of the wind has been demon- 

 strated. The fact remains, however, that the condition of the 

 surface soil affects more than anything else the escape of moisture. 



It is purely a question of capillary attraction, and a parallel ex- 

 ample may be observed in an ordinary lamp wick. When the end 

 of the wick is kept clean, the oil is drawn up rapidly and without 

 hindrance, but let a charred surface remain on top and the oil 

 refuses to draw. The process of evaporation or capillary attraction 

 has. .been checked by a condition on the surface which prevents the 

 liquid from being drawn up to the flame. 



In the orchard the sun and wind are the flame, the surface of the 

 soil is the top of the wick, and the damp soil underneath represents 

 the lower part of the wick immersed in oil. When the surface is 

 smooth and hard the warmth of the sun draws up the water from 

 the sub-soil, and once there it is hurried away by the wind. Now, 

 if we stir this top soil, we produce what has been called a "dust 

 blanket." The condition of the soil in the "blanket" is very differ- 

 ent from that underneath. By the process of pulverizing, myriad 



