164 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



purer and more worthy of the sacred name they bear; hundreds of 

 children have been made better and happier. Our most extrava- 

 gant hopes have been more than realized, and yet we are not satis- 

 fied. Not until every child in Minneapolis who wants a garden has 

 that want supplied shall we be satisfied in our local effort. But 

 even now our ideal has advanced until it has passed the city limits 

 and even the boundary line of the state, and we wish that in every 

 part of our country this help might be offered; for we know from 

 experience that ethical as well as aesthetic lessons of great value to 

 the community will as surely grow out of those little packets of 

 seed as will the pansies and sweet peas. Whenever the beautiful 

 triumphs over the ugly in life, let us hope to find also the good and 

 the true. We are all sowers of seeds, whether we know it or not. 

 The work which has been described in this paper is something all 

 can do. A little experience will prove how t5'pical it is of the high- 

 est form of human endeavor; how, While striving to sow good seeds 

 in other lives, the seeds of love and sympathy are growing strong 

 in the hearts of the sowers. The children are not the only ones who 

 are learning lessons of helpfulness through the flower work of the 

 Improvement League. 



PLANTING AN ORCHARD. 



J. A. HOWARD, HAMMOND. 



One way to succeed in planting an orchard is to plant good, 

 strong, healthy trees; and the way to get them is to go to the nur- 

 sery that grows the trees they sell, and do j^our own selecting, re- 

 jecting any and all trees that are not strong and first-class and with 

 plenty of good roots. The trees should be heeled in till ready to 

 plant. I think the best time to plant in Wabasha county is from the 

 first to the middle of April. 



When ready to plant, hitch the team to the trucks or stone boat 

 with what barrels they will carry, part of them filled with water and 

 the rest partly filled with fine top soil with water enough to make a 

 porridge. Place the trees in the porridge as they are taken from 

 where they are heeled in, drive along the rows of holes that have al- 

 ready been dug — and they should be dug deep enough so the plow 

 will not disturb the roots when cultivating. Trim all bruised roots, 

 spread them out, work in some fine top soil about the roots, use a 

 little water, incline the trees a little to the southwest, fill the hole 

 within two inches of the top with fine top soil, well packed with the 

 foot. Mulch as soon as possible to hold the moisture, and the job 

 is done. 



I set three hundred trees last spring, and every tree grew. I set 

 five hundred in the same way two years ago, and they all grew 

 but three, and I have 450 of them in bearing now, and have 

 picked from those trees in the last two years, from 800 to 900 bushels 

 of apples. I can see no reason why every one in southern Minneso.ta 

 cannot raise more apples than they know what to do with if they 

 only go at it in the right way. 



