BIOGRAPHY OF J. S. B. THOMPSON. 35 1 



farmer and pioneer fruit grower in the state of his adoption. At 

 the time of his death he was in Oregon, having purchased a farm 

 there two years previous, drawn there doubtless by his interest in 

 fruit growing and his desire to exploit it in a more favorable field. 

 He is survived by his wife and several children. 



GROWING THE APPLE IN THE RED RIVER VALLEY. 



A. W. LATHAM, SEC'Y. 



The last ten days in June this year I spent with the Farmers' 

 Institute Corps, visiting various points in the Red River Valley not 

 over fifty miles distant from Crookston. On the way there I stop- 

 ped over a day at Fargo and visited the North Dakota Experiment 

 Station, the horticultural department of which is under the charge 

 of Prof. C. B. Waldron. As this article is to deal specially with 

 apple trees in the region referred to I will not speak of other mat- 

 ters except in a general way to say that small fruits of most kinds 

 succeed fairly well in the Red River Valley except where alkali is 

 found, though of course they need a little more winter protection 

 than at points farther south. 



At Fargo I found no apple trees of any size, a few a short time 

 planted and showing the effects of a rigorous climate. Judging by 

 my observations there, I was hopeful that at Crookston and at points 

 farther down the valley I might find some varieties of crabs, and 

 was not at all prepared for what I did find. 



. The initial efforts at apple growing at the Crookston State Ex- 

 periment Station, of which Mr. T. A. Hoverstad is superintendent, 

 have so far not been very successful, owing, in my judgment, prin- 

 cipally to two causes inherent in the existing situation, too much al- 

 kali in the soil and too little protection from the fierce winds of that 

 level and open prairie country. These obstacles can and are being 

 met, the first by selecting locations on the farm that use shows con- 

 tain a minimum of alkali, and the second by the rapid growth of the 

 effective windbreaks that are being grown on the north and west 

 sides of the Station property, as a part of the general experiment 

 work. The introduction of seedling native plums as a feature of 

 these windbreaks is a somewhat novel idea which it would be well 

 for other prairie planters to copy. It is delightful to come across 

 them here and there in the groves, well laden with fruit ; and they 

 appear to thrive well in contact with other young growing trees, 

 even though considerably shaded. 



