142 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
plied at the right time. There may be a difference in soils. In 
sandy soil, of course, it takes more water. I have noticed a 
number of times in the Black Hills district it took very little 
water to mature the crop, and it is very frequent in that coun- 
try that a man’s crop will be saved by one shower, and not a 
very extensive one at that. In many localities, I noticed they 
had a local shower and had a good crop, while a mile and a 
half a way they failed to get a shower and they failed to geta 
crop. The difference of one shower has made the difference 
between an entire failure and a good crop, and I believe that, 
as arule, it requires very little water to affect a crop, and there 
are very few seasons when we, do not have a drouth when one or 
two wettings would save our small fruits. Iam judging from 
what I have seen of its effects on crops in the West, and in my 
own experience I know it did not take much water to save my 
strawberries. é 
VICE-PRESIDENT’S REPORT, SECOND CONG. DIST. 
S. D. RICHARDSON, WINNEBAGO CITY. 
We had a frost the latter part of May that seriously injured the 
strawberries in many places, especially where they were heavily 
mulched with straw, killed the most of the cherry blossoms and in- 
jured the apples in some places. The hot, dry weather completed 
what the frost had begun, and the strawberry crop was nearly a fail- 
ure in this section. We hada few rows on an undrained slough that 
did not suffer from the drouth and produced an abundant yield: 
Raspberries and blackberries were nearly ruined by the dry, hot 
weather, and the birds seemed to want more than their usual share 
—perhaps the dry, hot winds made them thirsty. Currants and 
gooseberries were not as large as usual but were a fair crop. 
Plums set unusually full, but the drought made them smaller than 
usual. Only where they were thinned and thoroughly cultivated 
and manured so the ground was rich and mellow, there they were 
unusuallyfine. The drouth seemed to affect different kinds of plums 
in different manners. The Miner ripened fully three weeks earlier 
than common, while the Desota this year were later than the Miner. 
Apples were a fair crop. Some orchards hung very full, while in 
some places there were many more windfalls than usual. They 
were not as large as usual and have not kept as wellas they did 
last year. Grapes were of good quality and a fair yield. 
