472 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



through agents in a new country like this, where local nurseries 

 are so scarce. 



Strawberries by the Barrel.— A novel method of growing- 

 strawberries is suggested,which is adapted to gardens of verj'limited 

 area. Take a barrel and bore inch holes through the side eight inches 

 apart and in rows four inches apart, alternating in the rows. The 

 plan is to set a strawberry plant in each hole, roots inside, of course. 

 The process of planting is to fill the barrel with earth level with the 

 lowest row of holes, then put in this row of jjlauts and till with earth 

 to the next row, etc. A tiling, saj-^ of three inches in diameter, is 

 put in the center of the barrel from near the bottom to above the 

 top, and into this is poured water and liquid manure for irrigation 

 and fertilizing. Such a barrel would require about one hundred 

 and thirty-five plants, and it is said it has produced as high as five 

 bushels of berries. If anyone is interested enough in oddities to try 

 it, the readers of the Horticulturist would like to know the results. 



Our State Fair Frontispiece. — The view shown at the head of 

 this number is, probably, the most comprehensive one of Horticul- 

 tural Hall that has ever been printed. The artist stood in the gal- 

 lery at the west end of the hall, and the camera was located some 

 twelve feet above the floor of the hall. It shows fairlj'- well the 

 three tables in the center on which the fruits are displayed, and on 

 either hand against the wall the tiers of shelves containing the 

 florists' exhibits. At the left hand side, just bej'oud the show of 

 plants, appears the exhibit of 175 plates of Russian apples made by 

 the Iowa Experiment Station. The county agricultural exhibits at 

 the farther end of the hall are obscured very completely by the 

 fountain in the center, surrounded by the florists' display of de- 

 corative plants. 



A Tropical Nursery.— Our old friend and fellow member, L. 

 M. Ford, for so many years proprietor of a nurserj"^ and greenhouse 

 in what is now Merriam Park (between the Twin Cities) has re- 

 turned again to his first love, and is conducting in San Diego, Cali- 

 fornia, what he terms a "Tropical Nursery." Some of the speci- 

 mens of his products came to the writer in an exaggerated cigar 

 box lately and proved on disclosure to be a very fierce and aggres- 

 sive looking collection of cacti. A slip at the top of the box said 

 "handle these with a darning needle," and we saw the point. A 

 lady friend visiting us from Southern California said "the horrid 

 things," but then we had seen her home when they were trying to 

 get rid of cacti to plant vines, and so understood her antipathy. We 

 have no fear that they will take possession of our garden and drive 

 us from the premises, and so we shall try and coax them into bud- 

 ding out in the wonderful manner which is the fashion with this 

 very curious and interesting family. About thirty of us walked a 

 considerable distance at 11 p. m., lately to see a cactus in bloom, 

 which it was said would not flower again in a hundred years. Such 

 a vividly beautiful flower,exaggerated by the homeliness of the plant 

 that bore it and the hour at which it must be seen! Few of us may 

 live to see it flower again— but perhaps Mr. Ford has sent some 

 that will blossom with less reluctance. 



