48 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



ground before the dry weather of the spring. Some of our experi- 

 ments with the spraying of potatoes for the prevention of mildew 

 have given results which seem to show that, at least in some years, 

 this treatment may be profitable, and our experiments with fungi- 

 cide, to prevent scab on potatoes, show that it is seldom, if ever, that 

 the potato grower can afiford to neglect this precaution. 



The interest in forestry has been greatly enlarged in the last few 

 years, and the forest garden at the Experiment Station is of increas- 

 ed interest as the years go by, due partly to the fact that as the trees 

 get older they teach more object lessons, and partly to the fact that 

 people are beginning to understand these matters better. It is my 

 intention to increase the amount of instruction offered in forestry 

 in the College of Agriculture, so that it will make a much more thor- 

 ough course, and, as one of the means to this end, we have recently 

 laid out on the farm a square acre containing something like 400 

 trees for lessons in scaling in timber, and some of the best trees on 

 the grounds have been numbered and are to be measured each year 

 and the increase figured. I believe this is a move in the line of 

 practical forestry that may be of far reaching importance and will 

 make our work much more practical than heretofore. 



It is interesting for me to note that? there has been quite an in- 

 crease of interest taken in horticultural matters by the superintend- 

 ents of the university sub-experiment stations, and I think it will 

 not be long before we shall get good results from all of them, and as 

 they are now located in sections which are not covered by any of the 

 trial stations of the horticultural society, they should add very much 

 to our data regarding the horticultural possibilities of this state. 



EUREKA TRIAL STATION. 



C. W. SAMPSON, EXCELSIOR. 



Grapes and small fruit plants came through the winter (1899- 

 1900) in very poor shape. Grape vines especially were badly root- 

 killed. Some vineyards were almost entirely wiped out. The 

 cause was no snow, and the ground was frozen very deep. Straw- 

 berries were almost an entire failure except where they were irri- 

 gated. Raspberries were about half a crop. Currants and goose- 

 berries were a fair crop. Apples and plums both bore heavy crops 

 of excellent fruit. 



Campbell's Early was our best grape this season. They have 

 come to stay, and the vine is very hardy and vigorous. The grapes 

 will hang on the vines and to the stem for four weeks after ripening. 



