284 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



buried the fall previous, from which he last fall gathered one hundred 

 and five barrels of first-class fruit, netting him more than $100 per acre. 

 C. Moigan of Fillmore county had over a thousand trees of about the 

 same age, bearing from a half to three bushels per tree, and R. C. Keel of 

 Eochester realized the best results from young orchards of Wealthy and 

 Longfleld. Had the farmers of Minnesota re-planted their dead orchards 

 at once after they were killed out, even with the best of the old varieties, 

 the last year's crop would have proved a bonanza. 



BOXING TREES.— A TALK. 



O. F. BRAND, FARIBAULT. 



One of the gentlemen has asked me to tell the society what little I 

 know about boxing trees. The protection I have given to trees has de- 

 monstrated to me that the plan is a success. 1 boxed quite a number of 

 trees a year ago last fall, as well as the previous fall, and had good luck 

 with all of them. I think it is an advantage even during a mild winter, 

 although a protection of two or three thicknesses of manilla paper might 

 have been just as efficient during the last three or four winters. But 

 during those winters which occasionally come upon us without much 

 warning, those severe winters such as we had in '72 and '73, '79 and '84, we 

 appreciate the great gain, which is to be had by using this protection. 

 Those are the winters in which trees need protection in order to prevent 

 the wood from being killed. 



I think I might say a word in regard to setting trees too close to- 

 gether, as this also has much to do with their hardiness, in my opinion. 

 Trees that stand twenty-flve or thirty feet apart have plenty of room 

 to gather material from which to build up a crop of apples. Apples 

 cannot be entirely formed from the atmosphere, but, as you know, some- 

 thing must be taken from the soil. The roots must have room to spread 

 out and gather this material. I have always noticed that the trees that 

 bore the most fruit were those which stand long distances apart. I think 

 the two trees in this state that have produced more fruit than any other 

 two trees, stand at least fifty feet apart from the surrounding trees. 

 One of them, I think, stood at least one hundred feet from any other 

 tree. To return to the subject of boxing, I have boxed up a good many 

 trees this last fall with earth, and have also used a good deal of paper in 

 protecting trees. I shall continue this plan, although I have thought 

 some people injured their trees last winter by boxing. I do not know ex- 

 actly why, as there was no injury to mine. I boxed with clean earth. 

 Of course, I can understand how trees might be injured during such a 

 winter as last winter, when there were frequent showers of rain to soak 

 the earth. If there were ashes in the soil or, perhaps, some other kind of 

 fertilizing material, it might injure the bark of the tree, if the earth was 

 saturated with water. I always take away the boxes in the spring, as 

 there is no neceesity for protection after the frost is out of the ground. 



DISCUSSION. 

 President Underwood: Is there any objection to the prac- 

 tice that some people have of putting the boxes on, filling them 



