23-2 ANNUAL REPORT 



people. Coming from a country where fruit was abundant, they take 

 considerable interest in horticulture; nearly all of them have their 

 well-kept groves and flower gardens, their currant, raspberry and 

 goosberry patch, grape vines, apple trees, etc. 



It may be of interest to the public to know that they are planting 

 freely of the seeds, and are growing seedlings of many varieties of 

 the fruits of their former homes in the old country. They have 

 grown fine crops of seedling Russian cherries and plums. 



They have also many seedling Russian apple trees, and several va- 

 rieties of Russian pears; the most common is a variety they call the 

 Kruskaeye, which is a beautiful and rapid-growing tree, claimed to be 

 as hardy as the cottonwood. I have seen specimens of this tree twelve 

 feet high, and about six inches in diameter. 



At our county fair the past fall our Mennonite neighbors took most 

 of the premiums offered for fruit, including the best collection of 

 fruit. 



THE DEWBERRY, 



I consider the dewberrj^ of special value for the Northwest, particu- 

 larly on the. prairies, for the following reasons: Being of low, spread- 

 ing growth, the vines are not injured by our heavy winds or snow 

 banks; they are as easily given winter protection (where necessary) 

 as the strawberry'. 



The dewberry (Lucretia) is the only blackberry recommended for 

 general cultivation by the Eastern Iowa Horticultural Society. I 

 think the Dewberry will soon be popular all over the Northwest. 



My experience in growing the dewberry has been mostly confined 

 to the variety known as the Windom. I will give you a short de- 

 scription of it. 



Old canes grow from one and one-half to two feet high, with nu- 

 merous short branches; is short-jointed, often three or four to the 

 inch; fruit-stems rather long and slender; blossoms all on the outside 

 of the hill, nearly hiding the foliage from view; the blossoms and 

 young berries on each hill usually have the appearance of growing in 

 one immense cluster, but as the berries get size the fruit stem 

 droops, the plant gradually settles, and at the time of ripening the 

 fruit is mostly shaded by the new growth of the plant, and is thus 

 protected from the sun, wind and beating rains. Fruit will keep per- 

 fectly on the vines ten days or more after turning black. There is 

 usually some imperfect fruit, sometimes considerable of it. 



A few have failed to make a success in growing the dewberry.^ I 



