336 ANNUAL REPORT 



FOREST TREES. 



In regard to forest trees I would say that I have been trying 

 Catalpaand Black Walnut, and thus far they are doing splendidly. 

 The former has made a very fine growth. We have a good many 

 ornamenal trees and shrubs. 



RUSSIAN WILLOWS. 



Salixfragilis — Bed Willow. — This variety is said to take the 

 place of pine in many parts of Russia, the wood being light, 

 strong and easily worked. It is a rapid grower, and is propa- 

 gated easily from cuttings. The twigs are quite red in winter, 

 whence the name. 



Salix Napoleonis is a drooping form of peculiar beauty. The 

 leaves are small, linear, with a bluish green color. The 

 branches are very slender. It has not yet been grafted, but 

 when a good stock is found we will have no "weeping" tree 

 sui)erior to it. Perfectly hardy and easily grown from cuttings. 



SMALL FRUITS. 



STRAWBERRIES. 



The past season proved very trying for strawberries, and re- 

 sulted in an almost complete failure of the raspberry crop. We 

 had no rain from the time the i)lants began blooming until near 

 the end of the strawberry season. The result of this was a fair 

 opening of the season, with fine large berries. A few very warm 

 days ripened much of the fruit prematurely, so that, with a 

 glutted market and later on very small, immature berries, the 

 crop was far less profitable than the first days of the season 

 promised. 



In order to test the relative merits of matted row and single 

 planting, two beds had been set in the spring of 1885. The 

 '•matted row" bed contained the following varieties, so planted 

 as to secure ample fertilization for the sterile sorts: Crescent, 

 Countess, Manchester, Chas. Downing, Windsor Chief, Captain 

 Jack, Ironclad, Mi nnetonka Chief, Ray' s Prolific, Wilson , Glendale, 

 Jas. Vick, Green Prolific, Jersey Queen. Of the last three 

 varieties only a few plants were set. From one and a half to four 

 rows, three hundred feet long, were planted with each of the 

 other sorts. 



