206 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



One more that is a great grape with grape lovers, and that is the 

 Niagara. It will hardly ripen in this locality. It will only ripen ir> 

 the most favorable localities we have and then not fully ; it is such a 

 fine grape for cooking purposes that many people tell me it is the 

 best grape I raise. I do not recommend it for eating or market pur- 

 poses, but it is a peerless grape for cooking and canning. You wilt 

 have no market for it unless you educate your neighbors around you, 

 but if you give them only one basket full or enough to put up a pint 

 jar you will have buyers for all the rest. It produces some of those 

 great white clusters of grapes, and as I said before there is nothing, 

 better in the shape of a grape for cookmg or canning and so dif- 

 ferent from the others that it might pass for some other fruit. Wherf 

 you have tried it once you will want it afterward. It would not pay 

 to raise unless you want it for your own use or had established a 

 home market for it for cooking and canning purposes, because it will 

 not ripen, and it is only good for the purposes which I have stated. 



I have briefly and hastily mentioned a few varieties that can be 

 grown in our section of the country. 



Mr. O. M. Lord : I corresponded with Mr. Rogers of Milton,. 

 Fla., and he wrote me once, "I have a bunch of Niagara on my desk, 

 and I am trying to make myself believe it is good." They are 

 raised in Florida in large quantities and do finely there. I do not 

 pretend at all to say that they should be eaten from the vine ; they 

 should only be raised for the purpose of cooking and canning. 



SUBSOILING AS A PREPARATION FOR FRUIT 

 CULTURE. 



DAVID SECOR, WINNEBAGO CITV. 



As we look at the grand display of fruits exhibited by mem- 

 bers of this society, we are led to believe that a bright future is be- 

 fore us and that our land is a goodly heritage. 



Owing to a diversity of soils and subsoils within the state, the 

 same method of preparation for fruit culture and the same treat- 

 ment of the soils does not apply in all cases. 



In localities fruit culture is attended with a reasonable degree 

 of success without special preparation being made before planting 

 other than to have the surface soil in a fair state of cultivation. This 

 method may be attended with fair success where there is a fertile 

 soil with a porous subsoil and good natural drainage. 



An important matter in the planting and successful cultivatioi* 

 of fruits is to have sufficient drainage to prevent water from re- 

 maining in pools or ponds on the surface for any considerable length 

 of time. If the subsoil is a hardpan or a stiff clay impervious tcv 



