132 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
(General fruits. 
QENERAL FRUITS, FIRST CONG. DIST. 
R. H. BUTTERMORE, LAKE CITY. 
The past season was very unfavorable for small fruits in general 
in our district. Strawberries got through the winter seemingly all 
right, but the excessive drought shortened the crop immensely, and 
the same cause affected all our small fruits except grapes, which 
were a fair crop. Our apple crop was also very light, owing to late 
frosts and intense prolonged drought. We had a mild, early, warm 
spring, which caused everything to vegetate so beautifully. My 
orchard blossomed delightfully, and just when in full bloom there 
were one or two severe frosts which injured the most of the blossoms 
and some of the terminal parts of the limbs,which afterwards,looked 
like blight. 
An examination of the orchards shows the shortest growth that 
has been made for years. The drought during the summer stunted 
the trees so that they grew very little all summer. But there 
have, fortunately, been quite a good many rains since, which have 
filled the soil and helped the conditions generally for next year’s 
crop. 
Last year in my paper at the annual meeting, I related some of my 
experience in orchard raising and some of the greatest impediments 
to my success; now I will tell you how I plant my trees in places 
where occasionally one dies. I dig out all the dirt and roots where 
the old tree stood and make a big hole, and then throw in a little 
dirt that never waS near an apple tree before; then I place the 
young tree in line with the others, and then take more new dirt and 
fill up around the roots. In this way, I succeed remarkably well. 
The best time to prune is in June; the wounds then heal over with 
least injury. I avoid pruning as much as possible. The best way 
is to rub off the young buds soon after their appearance; then the 
force of the growth is diverted into channels where it will be more 
useful. 
Some orchardists think it better to let all the saplings and sprouts 
grow, but I like a nice-shaped tree, and if the orchard is kept right, 
there need not be any damage done by pruning. 
About thirty years ago, when the prairies were breaking up, I had 
a piece broken where I intended to build and sow some grain and, 
also, plant trees and a little orchard. In this connection I would 
state that I was and have been a lover of apple trees and orchards, 
and believe a great part of the success in apple raising depends on 
the interest that is taken in it. I planted my orchard where I 
thought it would do best, on the south side of the slope, thinking it 
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