126 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



tween the trees also. No farmer can afford to be without a veg^eta- 

 ble garden. 



How to plant the trees : Dig- the holes for the trees sufficiently 

 deep and large so that when the trees are planted the roots can be 

 spread out to their natural position. Then throw some top soil be- 

 tween and on the roots and press it solid. When the soil is dry 

 pour a half pail of water to each tree; when the hole is half filled 

 with dirt and when the tree is planted there ought to be a Httle sag 

 around the tree to keep the rain water. The man who loves his 

 trees will find it a pleasure to work and take care of them. 



The pruning if followed up every year can most all be done with 

 a pruning shears or a knife, and when no other work is crowding. 

 The best time to do it is when your pruning shears or knife is sharp. 



To avoid disastrous mistakes in buying your nursery stock, never 

 buy of a man who does not represent a nursery at all or one from 

 a far distant state, or of a man who wants to plant you a so-called 

 "model orchard," or warrants every tree to live. Always bear in 

 mind that such a man has nothing to give away, and what you get 

 of him at the best you have to pay dear for, and besides you are de- 

 ceived and the result will be discouragement. 



Buy of responsible firms of your own state at honest prices and 

 take your own risks after the trees and plants arrive, and you will 

 not have to complain about dishonest nurserymen and the sharks. 



In selecting your trees and plants, take the fruit list of the State 

 Horticultural Society as a guide and observe what does the best 

 in your neighborhood. In buying strawberry plants be ver\' care- 

 ful to select varieties with perfect blossoms, or if imperfect flowering 

 varieties are planted they must be alternated with the perfect in or- 

 der to be fertilized to bring a crop of fruit. 



Last but not least, the young men of the farms ought to be sent 

 to the State Agricultural College for a course in agricultural train- 

 ing, to be well prepared for their future work on the farm. The 

 farmer needs college education as well as the doctor or lawyer. A 

 successful farmer needs to know more than a congressman. The 

 Minnesota College of Agriculture has a faculty which is well able 

 to warrant the best results. The professors are not alone educated 

 men, but they are also very practical, and the young man who 

 has been under their training cannot help but make some of their 

 knowledge his own and be a light in his neighborhood. 



