428 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



ter's rest and will not be stimulated thereby to start a new flow of 

 sap. Neither is it best to apply manure before next month. 



A g-reat many fruit trees and shrubs will be delivered to their pat- 

 rons, by nurserymen, during- this month. We advise a careful 

 examination of the trees to ascertain that they are alive, have a 

 sufficiency of roots and are free from scale, borers and other insects, 

 before accepting them. This becomes more necessary because of 

 the number of firms operating in this state who have no nursery in 

 the state for propagating and growing trees, or only a block or town 

 lot or two in which they summer over what they fail to work off in 

 the spring. To save room, these trees are trenched in rows very 

 thickly and do little more than live through the summer, and they are 

 worthless for planting. As soon as good trees are received they 

 should be heeled in or, rather, buried in a dry bank. The usual 

 method is to dig a trench long enough to take in the trees, but deep- 

 est at the end where the roots are placed. Lay the trees in and fill 

 with earth. No unfilled spaces should be left about the roots. 



Currant or Gooseberries may still be pruned and cuttings planted 

 out in the early part of the month. Pruning of grape vines may be 

 done towards the last of the month, or as soon as the leaves have 

 fallen, but they should not be covered for winter until later. 



In the vegetable garden, the tops of asparagus should be cut 

 and burned and a dressing of strawy, coarse manure applied to the 

 ground. Beets, carrots, squashes, etc., should be gathered before 

 frozen and carefully protected from freezing. All leisure time 

 should be utilized in cleaning up the orchard and garden and get- 

 ting ready for winter, and when cleaning grass and weeds from 

 about trees look sharp for borers, and if any signs are found, dig 

 out or kill by probing their burrows with a wire. 



Wild Flowers and their Culture. — People usually make too 

 much work of cultivating wild plants. They are apt to attempt to 

 imitate the natural conditions under which they find the plants. 

 This, to a certain extent, is wise, but in most cases it is easily carried 

 too far. The problem is simplified when we once come to under- 

 stand that wild plants grow where they are obliged to grow, rather 

 than where they desire to grow. Because a plant grows in the 

 woods is little reason to expect that it may not grow equally well 

 in the sun. And then, it is not necessary to wait until fall or spring 

 to take up the wild plants. At every outing, whatever the time of 

 year — if the ground is not frozen — I mean to go prepared to bring 

 home roots. In these sultry July days I am bringing home wild 

 herbs, and next year I expect to see most of them bloom. I dig 

 them up with a comfortable ball of earth, cut the tops off nearly to 

 the ground, and keep them moist until I get them home; then they 

 are set in the border, and if dry weather follows a little water given 

 occasionally at sundown helps them to grow. I do not pretend to 

 say that July is as good a time as April or October to remove plants* 

 but one must capture the good things as he finds them. 



