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248 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



ALBERT LEA EXPERIMENT STATION. 



CLARENCE WEDGE, SUPT. 



STRAWBERRIES. 



The strawberries at this station are all froin beds set a year ag'o, 

 and when readj' for winter cover last fall had made very fine matted 

 rows and, on the whole, were as promising- a lot as we have ever 

 had at that season of the year. Being in a ver}^ exposed windy 

 situation we concluded that it would not be safe to cover with 

 straw, and decided to use a light cover of strawy horse manure, 

 hauled from the feed stables of the city. 



The winter proved to be a very trying one for newly set beds, a 

 large share of the plants of some varieties being entirely killed and 

 the surviving plants being much enfeebled. The extent of the injury 

 seemed to depend more upon the variety than the depth of cover or 

 character of the ground. The Haverland suffered the most of any, 

 with Warfield, Parker Earle and Barton's Eclipse very badly hurt. 

 Crescent came out far the best, with Wilson, Bederwood, Captain 

 Jack, Bubach and Burt very good. Since uncovering this spring all 

 varieties were much injured by the freeze of Maj' 18th, and have suf- 

 fered to an unusual extent by the drouth following. Although a 

 generous mvtlch of the more solid part ^of horse manure was left 

 among the plants and the space between the rows was heavil}^ cov- 

 ered, the ground became so drj^ that large cracks opened up and 

 there seemed no possibility that the plants could endure, to say 

 nothing of perfecting a crop. 



In the matter of resisting drouth, the Crescent again stands at the 

 head, with Wilson and Bederwood very good, and Parker Earle, 

 perhaps, nearly as good as Crescent. Warfield has dried up miser- 

 ably and makes the poorest showing of the whole lot. If the pres- 

 ent rains enable the Parker Earle to mature the berries sot, there 

 will be a verj^ fair crop on the rows of that variety. At this writing, 

 June 19th, we have enjoyed the first dish of strawberries picked from 

 our own beds. 



RASPBERRIES. 



At this date all varieties are very promising and with sufficient 

 rain will no doubt give a fine crop. We put off making our new 

 plantation of the cap varieties this spring until the plants had made 

 a growth of several inches, and, although we heid no rain for weeks 

 after setting, we now have the best stand we have ever had. The 

 only care taken was to allow no root exposure and to thoroughly 

 firin the earth in setting. 



Our orchard of some 1,200 trees is set in rows running- north and 

 south about eleven feet apart in the row. The setting of raspberries 

 above mentioned was made between the trees in the row, using 

 three plants in each space. We think the plants will add to the 

 health of the trees by shading their stems and the soil about them. 



PLUMS AND CHERRIES. 



The outlook for the plum crop is excellent. Our older trees of 

 Desota and Forest Garden have each set a reasonable amount of 

 fruit — the Desota requiring some thinning— which so far seems 



