SCIENTIFIC B'RUIT GROWING. 81 



When bushea such as I have described are set out, I apply about 

 one-half the quantity of ashes used on old fields or permanent 

 berry patches. A liberal coat of well rotted manure should also be 

 applied. This can be easily incorporated with the earth by the use 

 of a cultivator at this time, as the small fibrous roots have not had 

 time to spread. I never mulch my berry patch; light and heat are 

 essential to the full development of raspberries. 



My experiment patch of Early Thompson raspberries contains by 

 actual measurement one-fortieth of an acre. This includes a space 

 three feet ou each side of the patch. The yield from this patch this 

 year was six bushels of extra large berries. These found a ready 

 sale at the farm at twenty cents per quart, which gave a return at 

 the rate of two hundred and forty bushels per acre or seven thous- 

 and six hundred and eighty quarts at twenty cents— one thousand 

 five hundred and thirty-six dollars per acre. 



The soil is clay loam made very rich with barnyard manure. The 

 berry grounds are protected from winds and storms by a belt of 

 box elder and cottonwood timber. I am only an amateur in the 

 berry business and expect to raise larger crops of berries when I 

 understand the business better. 



ANNUAL MEETING, 1897, S. MINN. HORT. SOCIETY. 



CLARENCE WEDGE, SECY. 



The fourth annual meeting of this society was convened in the 

 commodious grand jury rooms of the court-house at Albert Lea, at 

 10 o'clock a. m., Wednesday, Jan. 20, 1897, President J. C. Hawkins, of 

 Austin, in the chair. 



The first topic considered was "Top-Working an Orchard from a 

 Farmer's Standpoint," which was ably treated in a paper read by the 

 president. J. S. Harris, of La Crescent, followed with a paper on " The 

 Best Varieties to Top- Work," and recommended the Wealthy, Utter 

 and Malinda as varieties that might be greatl}^ improved in hardi- 

 ness by top-working, and by using such stocks as Virginia crab or 

 Hibernal apple would no doubt become highly profitable varieties 

 for our section. In the paper which followed, Edson Gaylord,of Nora 

 Springs, la., made a broad comparison of the value of the newer seed- 

 ling apples with the Russian varieties and the method of top-working 

 on the limbs of the hardiest and best adapted crabs and apples, and 

 concluded by stating his belief that a better quality of fruit and a 

 healthier tree might be grown by the latter process. In the general 

 discussion of top-working which followed, the fact was brought out 

 that in order to secure the best results, top-working should be done 

 at some little distance from the main stem in order to retain the 

 forks of the hardy variety used as a stock, and that if a tree of some 

 size was to be top-worked it would be best to graft but a half or 

 third of the top in a single season. Mr. Gaylord was of opinion that 

 the newer seedlings, such as Patten's Greening, Peerless and Oka- 

 bena, were originated in favorable situations, and stated that many 

 varieties known to be tender were flourishing in equally good sur- 

 roundings. He also stated that top-working, being contrary to the 



