THE COMMERCIAL ORCHARD IN MINNESOTA. 23 1 



application, if carefully given, will last all winter. After the trees 

 have been set out they ov.ght to be mulched with straw or coarse 

 manure to protect them from drouth. 



We think that with a careful lookout for location as to market, 

 kind of trees planted, and with good care, a commercial orchard 

 can be successfullv grown in Minnesota. 



EVERGREENS FOR THE NORTHWEST-HOW TO GROW 

 AND TRANSPLANT. 



B. E. ST. JOHN, FAIRMONT. * 



I consider the best evergreens for the northwest to be: first, 

 blue spruce ; second, Black Hill's spruce ; third, Douglas spruce ; 

 and, fourth, white spruce. For a very hardy and rapid grower, 

 valuable for windbreaks, the Scotch pine takes the lead. The red 

 cedar makes the best windbreak but is of slower growth. The Nor- 

 way spruce is not adapted to our dry atmosphere, and the growing 

 of this spruce for sale in the northwest should be discontinued. 



Raising evergreens from seed is an occupation that most persons, 

 unless they are blessed with lots of patience, had better let alone. 

 Whil?, with the exception of the red cedar, the seeds of evergreens 

 will sprout and come to the surface as easily as wheat or oats, their 

 liability to "damp oft" makes raising evergreens trom seed a risky 

 business. Have your beds for seed a little higher than the surround- 

 ing surface and enclose them with screens made of lath ; have the 

 sides six feet high; cover the roof with lath (I have had good suc- 

 cess covering the roof tight with flooring boards) ; have the soil at 

 -least one-half sand ; sow either in drills or broadcast, any time from 

 early spring until late fall. If the plants can have a few days of 

 cool weather after coming up, in my opinion, this wall be a better 

 preventive for "damping ofT" than dry sand. Transplant the seed- 

 lings at either one or two years old to beds covered with lath screens 

 and give them the best of care and cultivation. After growing them 

 there one year, transplant (and root prune) to the field, and culti- 

 vate them there each year until July 15th, not later at last cultiva- 

 tion. Sow the ground to buckwheat. 



In transplanting, care should be taken that the roots never be- 

 come dry for one minute. A good way is to plant from a pail of 

 water. Dig the holes both larger and deeper than the roots require, 

 leaving some fine dirt in the bottom of the hole ; pack the dirt very 

 firmly about the roots, leaving two or three inches of loose, fine dirt 

 on top for a mulch, not using w-ater unless the ground is dry. Do 



