334 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



a success, except that the early frost would injure the buds, 

 the germ in the flower, and then, of course, it was a failure. 

 This season there was quite a crop up there. 



Mr. Elliot asks the question whether we can raise black 

 berries without covering them. It seems to me, if we copy 

 nature that we can. If we plant an abundance of forest trees, 

 so that the leaves can fall around the roots and prevent an 

 excessive freezing of the ground and the vines receive a 

 proper protection from the forest trees, not too much shade, 

 but just enough, I believe, judging from the data of my obser- 

 vations in that far northern country, that we can make it a suc- 

 cess. I inquired of a gentleman by the name of Haynes, who is 

 quite a horticulturist in his way and who has a number of 

 blackberries on his premises, and he stated that he had some 

 blackberries taken from their wild state, whose fruit grew 

 larger and was far superior to our cultivated berries, that are so 

 popular, besides being very hardy. It seems to me by a proper 

 selection and protection we can make a success of raising black- 

 berries without the tedious process of covering them in the 

 winter. 



President Underwood: Will Mr. Plants tell us how many 

 acres of blackberries he has under cultivation, and what the 

 nature of his soil is? 



Mr. Plants: The acreage is very small, less than one, and 

 the soil is a heavy clay. Speaking about the Erie and the 

 Lawton, now, the only time that I ever saw the Lawton grow- 

 ing in any quantity was in Illinois. My neighbor there had 

 three or four hundred plants for family use. My Erie is a very 

 different berry from that, does not resemble it at all. 



Mr. L. H. Wilcox: Perhaps, I ought to say I have come to 

 the conclusion myself that the Erie is being put out by the best 

 horticulturists as a different berry from the old Lawton. I 

 have the Lawton under cultivation, and it far exceeds the 

 Snyder adjoining it. It is the best one of five varieties which 

 I have. 



Mr. William Urie: While Mr. Barrett was speaking I 

 thought of the time, about two years ago, when I picked 

 two quarts of beautiful berries, grown on heavy clay 

 soil, shaded in the afternoon and getting the sun in the morn- 

 ing. I have been there now nine years, and in the nine years 

 I have only had two crops of berries. They have winter-killed 

 scarcely any, but they have failed to bear. 



