WHAT PLACE HAS GRASS IN THE ORCHARD? 313 
was down in Iowa a few years ago as a delegate, and in listening to 
their discussions in regard to orcharding I found that all of the 
most successful orchards had been cultivated, or else they had been 
used for feeding lots, which is equivalent to cultivation. Now 
Somerville cultivates ; he says he does, and I do not think it should 
go out as the sense of this meeting that grass in the orchard is the 
proper thing ora necessity. I think the theory is all wrong, and I 
think the experience of the people is to that effect, especially the 
experience of Mr. Somerville. Cultivation is the thing, and you 
cannot get anything else that is equal to it in the case of the orchard. 
I do not want to consume time unnecessarily, but I don’t want this 
_ grass theory to go out among the orchardists of Minnesota. They 
are inclined to lean that way anyhow, because it is easier to let the 
orchard grow up to grass. (Laughter). 
Mr. Van Houten, (Iowa): I want to concur with the statement 
made by Prof. Green, that there isa necessity for more htimus in 
the soil, and I think clover is one of the best things for that pur. 
pose, but I think buckwheat is better than clover. 
EVERGREENS THAT SUCCEED IN MINNESOTA. 
PROF. W. W. PENDERGAST, HUTCHINSON. 
Prairie homes without trees to give a softening effect look 
bleak and uninviting. The few deciduous trees that are scattered 
hereand there do but little in the winter to relieve their barrenness: 
In the villages, evergreens add to the attractiveness of the scene, 
both in summer and winter. They tone down the angularities of 
the home, give denser and cooler shade, and, by their seeds, draw to 
their branches birds for which deciduous trees have no charms. 
The desirability of such trees is admitted, but most of the at- 
tempts to grow them where most wanted have proved failures. The 
blame for this has been generally attributed to the severity of our 
winters, notwithstanding the fact that evergreens successfully re- 
sist the intense cold of the Arctic regions, where the thermometer 
not infrequently indicates a temperature of 70° to 80°. The fact is that 
the various Minnesota and eastern spruces, firs, pines and cedars, 
which we have tried to domesticate, would have no difficulty in 
withstanding the cold of our winter season, but our dry falls do not 
furnish sufficient moisture for the roots; hence, death comes before 
spring, with its melting snows and frequent showers, has time to 
avertthe evil. Evergreens are not the only trees that suffer from 
this cause. It often happens that soft maples, box-elders, cotton- 
woods and, sometimes, even elms, die from loss of sap and conse- 
quent seasoning of the wood, when a sharp drought has continued 
from August until November, and winter has followed hard upon 
it. . 
But what difference does it make with us, who are trying to orna- 
ment our grounds with trees that will do something toward reliev- 
ing the ghastly whiteness of the winter landscape, whether the dry- 
ness of the autumn or the cold of January foils our efforts? The first 
duty of the physician is to diagnose the patient’s disease and deter- 
