GENERAL FRUITS. 165 



Prof. Winchell. I did not think there were any huckleberries 

 in that part of the state. There are a number of varieties of 

 blueberries that I spoke of. The best blueberry of all grows on 

 high, sandy points in the northwest part of the state. It grows 

 on little bushes, six to ten inches high, that fruit so well that at 

 times I have seen it, in looking as far as across the street, it 

 would look like a bed of blue flowers. I remember once an 

 Indian and myself sat down a half peck pail and picked it full 

 of berries without moving to pick, and the berries are much 

 larger than those we see here. 



HORTICULTURE ON THE FARM. 



BY CLARENCE WEDGE. 



In considering- the place that horticulture should take upon the farm, 

 we must keep in mind the general character and situation of the farmer. 

 Whatever may he the joys and blessedness of ideal farm life, the average 

 farm is a busy, practical, bread-winner's workshop. I am painfully im- 

 pressed as my acquaintance with the farmer increases, that his days are 

 long enough, his burdens heavy enough, and that horticulture when it 

 takes its place upon the farm must come in such a form, that it will be a 

 lift and not a weight, a help and not a hindrance to the general and 

 legitimate farm work. 



It is in this spirit that I have prepared a few notes and suggestions 

 that have occurred to me in my own experience as a soil tiller. 



First, in regard to shelter. The desolate, forsaken, wind-swept con- 

 dition of the average farm home is one of the saddest sights that meet my 

 eyes. Cruelty to animals is bad enough, but cruelty to wife and children, 

 stock and all by leaving their habitations exposed year after year to the 

 blasts of this icy wilderness, no amount of press of farm work will excuse. 

 Moreover the needs of the case, and the time, feed and labor saving sure 

 to follow the proper application of horticulture, demands that this work 

 be most thoughtfully and thoroughly undertaken. 



While it is desirable that some protection should be had from all direc- 

 tions, the greatest care should be given to a thorough protection from the 

 west and north; upon these sides the shelter belt should not be less than 

 four rods wide. It goes without saying that the best material for such a 

 belt is some variety of evergreen, and its incomparable beauty and the 

 ease with which it can now be obtained should place it within the plans 

 of every self-respecting farmer. The willow, and in southern Minnesota 

 the Lombardy poplar will make a quicker temporary shelter, and they 

 may be used while the evergreens are growing. One of the most com- 

 plete and perfect wind breaks I have seen was made by planting willows 

 two feet apart in rows six feet apart, allowing them to grow to some size, 

 and then cutting them to within three feet of the ground; the dense 

 growth of sprouts that sprung from the stumps were almost as imper- 

 vious to wind as a belt of evergreens. It is with some hesitation that I 



