152 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Mr. Heideman: I wish to enlarge upon the matter of pro- 
tection of tender plants. I have successfully wintered at least 
one dozen varieties of the tender tea roses, such as the Marshal 
Niel, and all the hybrid teas, and I have 35 or 40 varieties of 
roses. I have used these cinders as a covering and never lost 
one. Prior to that time when the season had been satisfactory 
and favorable, when we had an early snow that remained on 
the ground, and the spring opened up all right, I had wintered 
tea roses under such circumstances, without this protection, by 
_simply covering up and packing them down. A simple way of as- 
certaining the value of the cinders is to place them on a spot 
of ground before the frost sets in, and if you remove them 
after a hard frost you will find that they have acted as a non- 
conductor. Another advantage of their use is the fact that 
they give a free access of air and there is consequently no 
smothering. I have wintered the heliotrope with the foliage 
and blossoms on, and next spring they came out and went on 
blossoming. 
ST. CLOUD EXPERIMENT STATION. 
D. E. MYERS, SUPERINTENDENT. 
MINNESOTA STATE REFORMATORY, t 
St. CLOUD, MINN., Dec. 29th, 1891. 
Prof. Samuel B. Green, State Horticulturist, St. Anthony Park, Minn. 
DEAR Srr:—I hereby report to you the number of different kinds of 
plants on the grounds of this institution, most of which were set out during 
the present year. The seven thousand strawberry plants, set out a 
year ago last spring, produced five hundred and eight quarts of ber- 
ries and are in first class condition for another year. Hon. E. H.S. Dart, 
superintendent of the State Experimental Station at Owatonna, Minn., 
last spring sent me twenty evergreen and fifty apple trees. The apple 
trees are all living and doing finely, but abont two-thirds of the ever- 
greens died last summer, on account of the severe drouth, our water supply 
not being sufficient to water them properly. Next spring I expect to set 
out from three to four more acres of strawberries, also an apple orchard of 
three hundred to four hundred trees. 
I will note and report to you in my next annual report the condition of 
everything in the horticultural department, also the productions thereof. 
Respectfully yours, 
D. E. MYERS. 
PLANTS SET OUT AT MINNESOTA STATE REFORMATORY, FOR YEAR 
ENDING DEC. 31, 1891. 
7,000 strawberry plants. 
50 apple trees. 
20 evergreen trees. 
