472 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



A LARGE ORCHARD AT ST PAUL. 



Mr. J. M. Underwood : While waiting for the next number 

 on the program I would like to introduce a young horticulturist to 

 this society. He is a son of Mr. T. T. Smith, of St. Paul. He is in 

 attendance at the school of agriculture and is about as largely in- 

 terested in fruit growing as any young man in the state, and he is 

 more interested than many older men. This is Mr. Langford 

 Smith, and we would like to have him tell us what he is doing in 

 fruit growing at St. Paul. 



Mr. Langford Smith : We have an orchard set out of thirty 

 acres of apples and crabs, twenty acres Wealthy and the rest of 

 different varieties, and among the crabs we have the Hyslop and the 

 Virginia as the prominent varieties. We set the trees out a year 

 ago last spring, twenty feet apart each way, and they made a fine 

 growth. The loss was very light indeed. We lost but eight out of 

 two thousand. Tney made about two feet of growth this past sea- 

 son and look to be in a very healthy condition. We have about ten 

 acres of red raspberries, most of which are Loudon, also about three 

 acres of gooseberries and currants. We expect to get a good crop 

 of fruit another season. 



Mr. Underwood : In what form do you set your trees ? 



Mr. Smith : In the diagonal form. Each tree is twenty feet 

 from the tree next to it. They are planted in the form of a hexagon, 

 so one tree is in the center, and in that way we succeed in getting 

 thirteen or fourteen more trees on an acre than we would if set in 

 the form of a square. 



Painting Trees for Proxection against Rabbits.— I buy the lead in 

 kegs, then mix the same with linseed oil, making the paint of a consistency 

 for good heavy outside coat work on a building, applying so as to coat the 

 trees quite heavily. My plan is to remove the dirt around the trees a day or 

 so in advance, then when the trunks have become dry, I brush them with a 

 stiff brush and remove the particles of dirt and also rough bark, and thus leave 

 a fairly smooth surface on which to apply the paint. We make the applica- 

 tion from two inches below the soil to twelve to eighteen inches above; one 

 may apply it as high up as desired. Before applying the paint, however, care- 

 fully search for borers, and wherever they are found, cut them out, removing 

 with a knife all the injured tissue and then coat the wound over with the 

 paint. With us we have not found it necessary to repaint apple trees often er 

 than once in two years. It works perfectly in protecting the trees from rabbits 

 and mice. — Prof. W. B, Alwood, Virginia Dept. Station. 



