440 ANNUAL KEPORT 



to better use, you may thus save yourself and neighbors the discour- 

 agement and disgust with "orcharding" that must necessarily follow 

 from watching a nice young orchard grow sickly and die without 

 understanding the cause. While the trees are small use the place as 

 your garden; you can raise your potatoes, onions, and cabbages there 

 with great benefit to young trees and thus, suffer no loss of ground. 

 Continue this practice till the trees are too large to allow the vegeta- 

 bles a healthy growth, when the trees themselves will pay for the 

 ground they use — even then they should not become sod-bound, for if 

 we expect the tree to draw several bushels of nice apples every year 

 from the same soil, we should assist nature in the work by enriching 

 that soil. I do not believe there is much danger of forcing too rank 

 a growth upon a bearing tree. 



WINDBREAKS. 



We must not forget or neglect to shield our orchards from the bliz- 

 zards and the cyclones by a good and sufficient windbreak. An ever- 

 green windbreak should be secured if possible, on account of its su- 

 periority, in winter, over every other kind, and its beauty at all times 

 of the year. And for this purpose we may well place the Norway 

 Spruce at the head of the list, and the White Pine second, and sever- 

 al other varieties are to be preferred before deciduous trees. Where 

 evergreens cannot be obtained the white willow should be used, as its 

 hardiness, its rapid growth, its beauty and strength make it one of 

 the most efficient of deciduous screens. It is a noticeable fact that 

 most planters place the windbreak too near the orchard. It should 

 stand back ten or fifteen rods, in order that the heavy snowdrifts 

 lodged by the windbreak may lie outside of the orchard. This wind- 

 break should stand upon three sides at least, north, west and south. 

 The east is not so material. 



How to bury a tree for the winter; how to properly prune; how to 

 keep the bark healthy; how to guard against borers, caterpillars, and 

 other insects; against rabbits and mice. The entire topics of plum 

 and cherry culture are divisions of the subject of "orcharding," 

 upon which I have not touched, but I fear I have already written at 

 too great a length. 



One more thought. What means the cry, " We can't raise apples 

 in Minnesota?" Does it mean that all those that utter it have given 

 the matter earnest, thorough and intelligent trial, and speak from ex- 

 perience? I cannot believe it. For, by some travel and inquiry, I 

 have found that most of the trees planted come from southern nurse- 



