SAUK RAPIDS TRIAL STATION. 61 



large strawberries. We had mulched them quite late and heavily, 

 as there was no snow, and owing to an overplus of work in the 

 spring had failed to take the mulching off. The outcome was a 

 full crop. 



Raspberries bore much later than usual, lasted longer and were 

 a good crop. Other bush crops bore well. The currants were 

 small. Old grape vines came out all right, but young ones died. 

 Spring flowering bulbs, with the exception of German iris, failed 

 to bloom, but all fall bulbs made up for it with a wilderness of 

 blossom. Caladivim esculentum was especially magnificent, and, 

 strange to say, our evergreens made an abnormal growth. 



WINDOM TRIAL STATION. 



DEWAIN COOK, SUPT. 



The drought which threatened the destruction of all crops in 

 this vicinity was broken about June 20th. Since that time we have 

 had an abundance of rain. Our strawberry crop was very light ; 

 the rains came just in time to prevent its being a total failure. 



Our Juneberries, which I have been growing about fourteen 

 years now, were a fine crop ; we gathered about fifteen bushels. 

 They are about as sure a cropper as any fruit I know of, having 

 failed to produce a good crop only once during that time. We also 

 had a very fine crop of seedling sand cherries. The fruit from a 

 large portion of them was so bitter and astringent that I consider- 

 ed them worthless and grubbed them out. However, about twenty- 

 five per cent of them could be used for jelly and sauce, and out of 

 the 400 bearing bushes we got two or three that I consider good. 

 They were tender, juicy and sweet. As this fruit is so hardy, can 

 be so easily and cheaply grown, I predict that the coming cherry 

 for the prairie section of the northwest will be the dwarf sand 

 cherry improved by selection. 



The plum crop was extra good. Our bearing trees had been 

 well mulched with long stable manure, and we used a curculio 

 catcher with great success. There was no dropping of immature 

 fruit. Our earliest plum to ripen was one of the Manitobas, sent 

 me some years ago by Thos. Frankland, of Stonewall, Manitoba. 

 It is a rather small freestone of the Weaver type ; ripened July 25th, 

 and is of a beautiful cranberry color. 



The following varieties have given good satisfaction this sea- 

 son : Cheney, Forest Garden, De Soto. Wyant ; also the freestone 

 Wolf and the clingstone Wolf, the Hawkeye and the Stoddard. The 

 last named variety is the largest plum I grow. 



