310 ANNUAL REPOKT 



And now, my friends, what more can I say? If my article is long» 

 I don't see how I can leave anything out without injury to my sub- 

 ject. That part relating to varieties does not refer to most favorable 

 and favorable localities. I will add that if you are seeking a location 

 for growing apples with the greatest success, go into Eastern Winona 

 or Houston county, and in the selection of your varieties? for planting 

 be governed by the advice of the Hod. J. S. Harris, of La Crescent. 



Learn how to graft from an expert or from any of the good farmers* 

 papers, which you will take if you expect to be a good fruit grower. 



Mr. Latham, from the Committee on Prize Essay on Strawberries 

 and Raspberries, reported that papers were presented as follows : By 

 Miss Lulu E. Danforth, Northfield; Miss E. Bessie Vandervort, Man- 

 kato; A. N. Wilcox, Hastings; John Lyons, Minneapolis; S. A. Mc- 

 Henry, St. Charles; R. A Pierce, Minneapolis. 



They award the prize to Master A. N. Wilcox, age 18. 



STRAWBERRY AND RASPBERRY GROWING IN 

 MINNESOTA. 



[By Archie N. Wilcox, Hastings. 



STRAWBERRIES. — HISTORY. 



The strawberry derives its name from the Anglo-Saxon "strahen,'* 

 or "straw" — to scatter, as applied to the berry from the straying or 

 scattering habits of its runners. 



Its geographical range extends over both continents, from the frigid 

 zones to the equator. The first allusion I have found to its garden 

 culture is about A. D. 1480. 



In the play of Richard III., Gloucester says : ' ' My lord of Ely, when 

 I was last in Holborn I saw good strawberries in your garden then; 

 I do beseech you, send for some of them." 



A hundred years later there was a garden in Holborn, then the 

 most aristocratic part of London, among whose products four kinds of 

 strawberries are mentioned. 



Lord Bacon says: " As we have housed the exotics of hot countries, 

 lemons, oranges, and myrtles to preserve them, so we may house our 

 natives to forward them; and thus have violets, strawberries and peas 

 all winter." 



