299 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
SUCCESSFUL FRUIT GROWING IN WESTERN MINNESOTA. 
W. J. WICKERSHEIM, IDLEWILD: 
Small fruits, crabs and the Duchess apple are successfully grown in 
Lincoln County by a half dozen farmers. Several farmers grow small 
fruits for themselves, neighbors and the home market. All of these apple 
‘trees that were heavily loaded with blossoms in 1890, bore but few blos- 
soms last spring. Yet the dozen or more trees in our orchard that bore 
blossoms, yielded eighteen bushels of crabs. Two Duchess trees (we have 
but five) bore a few blossoms and yielded One-half bushel of matured 
fruit. Judging from the blossoms, we did not expect many crabs, but as 
a great part of the fruit matured, the yield was a fair one. We sold eight 
bushels of crabs at $1.25 to $1.50 per bushel, and besides gave a few bush- 
els to neighbors, and from the proceeds we have bought a full supply of 
apples for the winter. Consequently we have not only grown our own 
early crabs and apples, but a full supply of winter apples in our Mich- 
igan orchard (?). But in time we hope to grow here in Lincoln County 
on this dry, windy prairie, enough winter apples to supply ourselves and 
the home market. Last spring quite a number of Peerless apple trees 
wére planted in this county, introduced here in the fall of 1890 by Mr. O. 
F. Brand of Faribault. I have seen the most of them the past summer, 
and from their appearance and growth, I feel that they must be adapted 
to our climate. I certainly have never seen so remarkable a leaf on an 
apple tree. Its leaf, together with its extreme northwestern origin and. 
record of a quarter of a century, makes me think that we now have a 
winter apple for western Minnesota. 
A farmer residing near Lake Hendricks, about 1900 feet above sea level, 
has a small orchard, principally Early Strawberry crabs. All of the last 
named trees were well loaded with fruit. As my work took me to every 
part of the county last spring and fall, I had a good opportunity of see- 
ing fruit trees, and I did not find an Eariy Strawberry over seven years 
old, and with some protection from the hot winds, that was not loaded 
with fruit. The Prices Winter Sweet, Brier’s Sweet, Whitneys No. 20, 
Meader’s Winter and Orange crab bore fairly well in 1890, but last spring 
the blossoms were too few for a crop. 
I find that those orchards that are located on level ground, or on land 
sloping toward the north and protected by windbreaks on the south and 
west, are doing well, where the trees are hardy and prolific, while those 
that are on high ground and unprotected from the hot south and south- 
west winds are in every case a failure. 
Hon. John Hanson is quite proud of his young orchard. A few of the 
‘older trees yielded several barrels of crabs this year. To protect his trees 
from rabbits and sun scald, every November he places eight pointed laths 
within six inches of the base of each tree, thus forming a cylinder about 
the trunk, and then ties the laths together at the top with a cord. 
This forms a cone-shaped protection. He also protects the limbs of the 
young fruit trees in this way by gently bringing them within the cone. 
