156 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
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wonderfully hardy and a wonderfully good apple, too, for cooking ~ 
purposes. I have never known the top of this tree to kill. I have 
known it to die sometimes from winter-killing when worked on ten- 
der roots, but have never known the tops to be injured. 
In planting, this spring, be sure and put outa few Loudon rasp- 
berries, for they are by far the most promising variety under culti- 
vation. They are new, and the price is rather high, perhaps three 
or four times that of common varieties, but they are well worth try- 
ing. This variety seems to be adapted to a wide range of soil and 
climate and is reported on favorably from almost every experiment 
station in the northern states. 
It is desirable to have a good vegetable garden; perhaps no other 
piece of land pays so well. Don’t try to have a finicky little one, 
with small beds that must be cultivated by hand, but plant in long 
rows, give plenty of room and cultivate with a horse. Many farm- 
ers have an idea that it does not pay to have a gardea, and when the 
laborious methods which are used in cultivating the average gar- 
den are considered I do not know as it does pay, but when properly 
cultivated with modern garden horse implements it is by far the 
most profitable piece of land on the farm. 
If the ground warms up the latter part of the month, try a little 
sweetcorn; ifit gets frozen, you have not lost much, and if it escapes 
the frosts you will have corn very early. It is customary with the 
most progressive market gardeners to take chances of this sort. 
Do not fail to have an asparagus bed. If you have not one now, 
order 100 plants, or if you do not know where to get them, or fear to 
risk it, get an ounce of seed, worth ten cents, and plantit. Itisas 
easy to grow as any seed and costs very little. An ounce of seeds 
should give several hundred plants, which would be enough for 
yourself and several neighbors. 
Comparatively few persons living in the country have any hot- 
beds or cold frames. These are very desirable in prolonging the 
season, and the care and management of them should be more gen- 
erally known. Two hotbeds, sash, 4x 4% ft. in size, should add very 
much to the table dietary during the months of May and June, be- 
fore the outdoor vegetables have begun to come in, and the plants 
that can be grown in them will be helpful in the garden during the 
whole season. The hotbeds and cold frames should be in constant 
use this month. 
Plantations of asparagus and rhubarb may be made during this 
and the following month. Onion sets should be planted out as 
soon as the ground can be worked. They, like onion seed, cannot 
be got out too early. Sow hardy (smooth) peas, lettuce, celery, 
radishes, cabbage, cauliflower, turnips, onions and spinach, and 
plant early potatoes as soon as the land is fit to be worked. By the 
end of the month, wrinkled peas, salsify and parsnips may be sown. 
See that the tomatoes sown last month’are transplanted into beds 
or boxes so as to have plenty of room. It does not pay to crowd 
them. Transplant cabbage plants for the early crop, putting them 
in deep enough to completely cover the stems. 
In the latter part of the month, all the early planted crops may 
need cultivating and some of them thinning, though but little of 
this is generally necessary until May. Radishes, lettuce, spinach 
and onions from sets, sown in hotbeds in March, should be fit to eat 
or to market. 
Haul out manure and plow the land for planting next month. 
Transplant onion plants of the foreign kinds from the hotbeds to 
open ground. 
