204 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Stands transplanting remarkably well, even when eight or twelve 

 feet high I take all the roots with the tree I possibly can leave on it ; 

 then I trim off all the limbs excepting three or four on the very top ; 

 then I dig a hole at least two feet deep and three feet across it. I 

 plant the tree from ten to twelve inches deeper that it was before, 

 and pack the dirt very solid on the roots, and by doing so the tree 

 will stand a great deal more wind, for if the roots have started to 

 grow, if planted shallow and a heavy wind blows, it will be apt to 

 loosen the roots and set the tree back a good deal and sometimes will 

 cause it to die. But if the tree is planted deep, the roots will not be 

 destroyed and will grow every time. 



I plant all kinds of trees deep for a good many reasons : if drouth 

 sets in, and they are set deep the roots will be more apt to have damp 

 ground and will be more sure to grow, and if I want to cultivate the 

 trees my plow and cultivator will not detach nor pull up the roots. 



TWENTY-FOUR YEARS' EXPERIENCE GROWING TREES 

 AND FRUITS IN THE RED RIVER VALLEY. 



FRANK T. HASELTINE, CROOKSTON. 



I opened the nursery business in Crookston the spring of 1879. 

 The city at that time was very small and new, not over three hundred 

 in population. The whole of north Red River Valley was new, no 

 settlers on the prairie and only a few farms taken up along the rivers 

 and creeks that were cultivated. I leased a small tract of land, ten 

 acres, within the city limits, that had been cropped one year, most too 

 new to plant to nursery stock, but by plowing twice and dragging 

 thoroughly I managed to get it in fair shape to plant. 



I planted first two acres to currants, gooseberries and raspberries, 

 also a few Transcendent crabs, Hyslop and Whitney crabs, and 

 Duchess, Wealthy and Tetofsky apples. I planted in the fall one 

 acre of tree seed, box elder and ash. Soon settlers came into the 

 country to take up government lands on the prairies — and they were 

 allowed one hundred and sixty acres in each section for a tree claim, 

 which they could hold and receive a patent for from government by 

 planting and cultivating ten acres of trees for seven years. This 

 made a strong demand for seedling trees, box elder, ash and cotton- 

 wood, from all nurseries in the northwest. 



The winter of 1879-80 was very severe and cold. The ther- 

 mometer went as low as fifty degrees below zero. I found in the 

 spring of 1880 nearly all my apple trees killed by frost. The crab 

 apples were badly damaged ; currants and gooseberries came through 



