ae ANNUAL REPORT. 
ities selling oftentimes for fifty cents per bushel, which hard aly Say 
for picking up; while the fine varieties, such as Harrison’s 
Apricot, Big Red, Elliot’s Big Cherry, and some others, sold readi- ; 
ly at $2.50 to $3. 00 per bushel. Quality and size are a8 much 
sought in this class of fruit as any other. ae 
EVERGREENS AS A PROTECTION TO FRUIT TREES—AN ESSAY READ BY 
0. F. BRAND, OF FARIBAULT. 
If, as has been often stated, ‘‘ A thing of beauty is a joy forever,” 
and gladdens the heart of its possessor continually, of how much 
greater worth to the appreciative mind of man must it be, if at the 
same time, while imparting perpetual joy to its owner, it likewise 
contributes directly or indirectly to his material wants, thus becom- 
ing in a double sense a joy forever. 
In the Horticulture of Minnesota, where man’s most vigilant care 
and greatest skill is taxed to its utmost to counteract the perpetual 
war of a remorseless climate, I can conceive of no tree or class of 
trees so admirably adapted to meet the wants of our horticulturists 
as a ‘* Thing of Beauty” as our coniferous trees. There is a grand- 
eur about an evergreen imparted by no other tree. All people of 
keen perceptions admire them, whether in clumps or single speci- 
mens—planted to adorn the humble cottage of the villager with his 
one small lot, or the palatial residence and extensive grounds of his 
more pretentious suburban neighbor. I repeat, there is a beauty 
and a grandeur about them which fills the heart of every apprecia- 
«tive person with delight. As wind-breaks in this climate they should 
be regarded as indispensable to the comfort of man and beast. 
Of their benefit to orchards, and their influence on fruit trees, 
there can be no doubt, while used as a protection from the savere 
winds. As a wind-break they are the most perfect protection that 
can be grown. 
But it is not only as wind-breaks that they are valuable. In this 
climate, remote from water, even though we find hardy varieties of 
apples which so far as growth is concerned, seem capable of resist- 
ing the extremes of our climate, still they produce but little fruit, 
owing to the fact that their fruit buds kill, or their vitality is so im- 
paired that they produce little or no fruit. The evergreens when 
planted around and among apple trees are said by one of our hest 
authorities to continually give off an exodium of warmth and moist- 
ure, that reaches a distance of its area in height. He goes on to 
state that he has studied this matter thoroughly, and that it is his 
firm conviction that to ameliorate vlimate—to assist in prevention of 
injury against extreme climatic cold in winter and of the frosting of 
the germ buds of the fruit in spring—all orchards should have plant- 
ed in and among them evergreen trees. Such being the facts, the 
double purpose will be filled, and the evergreens utilized by the hor- 
ticulturist, and thus be made not only a protection but an imparter 
of life and force, whose power will gladden the heart of the fruit- 
grower when he beholds his trees bending beneath their weight of 
luscious fruit. 
Then let us plant evergreens; not one or two in the tough grass 
