STATE HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETT. 363 



Mammoth, Bid well and Sharpless. Mammoth proves to be the best 

 with me. For winter protection I mulch with wheat straw and chaff 

 after the ground commences to freeze. In the spring I rake off the 

 straw and leave between the rows until there is no danger from frost. 

 Have grown some very fine crops, having an abundance for home use 

 and some to spare. Have supplied my neighbors with plants, who are 

 now raising their own berries. 



Have several varieties of raspberries. Blackcaps of the common or 

 native varieties, such as grow along the lake shore, succeed better 

 than the cultivated sorts. They are very productive and require no 

 protection; fruit smaller than of tame varieties. Have had indifferent 

 success with grapes. 



We have a number of enterprising farmers in Murray county who 

 are growing fruit successfully. Capt. Aldrich, one of the first settlers 

 here, near Currie, on Lake Shetek, is one of our most extensive fruit 

 growers. He has a large number of bearing apple trees, and has ap- 

 ples on the market every year, both of standard and hybrid varieties. 

 Duchess and Wealthy are his favorite sorts. He has some twenty 

 acres of natural timber for protection. He is also a very extensive 

 grower of strawberries, raspberries, currants and grapes. He has a 

 favorable location for grapes and is growing a number of varieties. 



Mr. Mclntyre a neighbor of Capt. Aldrich, is raising small fruits 

 quite successfully; also apples of which he exhibited some fine speci- 

 mens of Duchess and Wealthy at the fair the last two years. He has 

 no protection from the north and his trees were not broken by the 

 snow. 



My neighbor, J. R. Cleveland, has very good success with straw- 

 berries and red raspberries, and markets several bushels of fruit each 

 year. He had a similar experience with myself with apple trees; snow 

 spoiled them last spring. If I were to set out an orchard again I 

 would set it on the north side of a grove. Trees on the prairie need 

 protection from winds in summer. Our heavy south^rest winds shake 

 off the fruit. There is no trouble raising Duchess, Transcendent and 

 Hyslop here without any windbreak from the north, as they stand 

 quite as hardy as the oak. 



We experience no diflSculty in growing small fruits where any at- 

 tention is given them whatever. Every farmer should raise enough 

 for his own use. They are no harder to grow than the common 

 vegetables of the garden. Besides the pleasure and satisfaction af- 

 fored there is the gratification of having the choicest fruit, gathered 

 fresh from your own grounds. More attention should be given to it^ 



