2188 NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



being uncommon. The drainage is characteristic of 

 glacial areas, being poorly developed, so that there are 

 numerous marshes and small lakes. The soil presents 

 all variations in character, but is mostly very fertile. 



According to Whitson and Baker, the mean annual 

 temperature of the state is 43.3, varying from 48 for 

 the southwest corner to 39 for the northeastern part. 

 Acccording to the seasons, the mean temperature is as 

 follows: Winter, 17; spring, 42; summer, 67; fall, 47. 

 "Southern Wisconsin has a summer temperature similar 

 to that of central France, southern Germany and the 

 Danube Valley, while northern Wisconsin is about as 

 warm in summer as London or Berlin. The winter 

 temperature of the state, however, resembles that of 

 Sweden and central Russia. The length of time from 



50 



2500. Wisconsin, to show horticultural regions ; the point-circles indicate location and 

 acreage of trial orchards maintained by the State Horticultural Society. 



frost to frost varies widely, ranging from 175 to 75 

 days. Thus, the length of the frostless period at Beloit 

 and Madison is as long as in the higher hills of Georgia 

 or the Valley of Virginia. It is worthy of note that the 

 growing season at both Bayfield and Sturgeon Bay is 

 longer than that at North Yakima, Washington, and 

 Hamilton, Montana, and equal to that at Montrose; 

 while the season at Milwaukee and Madison is about 

 the same as at Rochester, New York." 



Wisconsin has an average yearly rainfall of 28 to 34 

 inches, about one-half of which is in May, June, July 

 and August, and 70 per cent April to September. 



Any survey of horticulture in Wisconsin must include 

 an outline at least of its history, for the development or 

 rather the evolution of horticulture in Wisconsin con- 

 stitutes one of the most interesting chapters in the 

 annals of American horticulture. 



In the middle western states, orchards and gardens 

 simply moved westward from their original homes along 

 the Atlantic coast and are now merely replicas of the 



parent orchards and gardens. The Baldwin apple and 

 the Flemish Beauty pear, standards in Massachusetts 

 and New York, are likewise standards in Ohio, Indiana 

 and Michigan. Horticulture in these states has been 

 and is now merely an extension of horticulture in the 

 eastern states. In Wisconsin and the upper Mississippi 

 Valley, it has been an evolution. 



The first gardens in Wisconsin, planted by civilized 

 people, were at Green Bay and on Madaline Island, one 

 of the Apostle group. At these places the Jesuit mis- 

 sionaries or their followers planted gardens, not alone 

 of vegetables but seeds of the apple and cherry. Along 

 the shores of Madaline Island may still be found thickets 

 of cherry, offspring of the seedling trees planted by the 

 missionaries. 



Real horticulture dates from the coming of settlers 

 from the eastern states, 1830 to 1840, who brought 

 eastern varieties of apples, such as Baldwin, Greening, 

 Bellflower, King and others. These did not long 

 persist on the black alluvial soils first preempted 

 by the early settlers; long winters, often with 

 but little snow, soon wiped out most of the 

 early planted orchards until it came to be gener- 

 ally believed that tree-fruits could not be grown 

 in Wisconsin. The rougher broken sections of 

 the state were settled later, and here orchards 

 planted in 1845 to 1855 still stand. 



The introduction of the Russian 

 . varieties was the cause of another 

 set-back, at least delaying the de- 

 velopment of commercial horticul- 

 ture in Wisconsin for a generation. 

 The Russian apples all proved 

 hardy enough but also proved 

 generally worthless. Something of 

 value resulted, as there have been 

 saved as standard sorts Duchess, 

 Astrachan, Longfield, Yellow Trans- 

 parent and a few others, but the 

 loss was greater than the gain. 



During these two periods, how- 

 ever, there were many earnest men 

 who were not content to wait but, 

 by planting seeds, picking up strays 

 from fence-corners, testing, discard- 

 ing, created, as a result of fifty 

 years' effort, a new race of fruits 

 belonging to the state and a part of 

 it. The inhabitants of the upper 

 Mississippi Valley owe almost all 

 their horticulture to the tireless, 

 painstaking efforts of these pioneers. 

 The following fruits, all recog- 

 nized as standards in Wisconsin and 

 Minnesota and many of them 

 adopted by other fruit sections, were 

 in Wisconsin: Apples Gem, Newell, 

 McMahan, Northwestern Greening, 



all originated 

 Plumb Cider, 



Windsor, Milwaukee, Pewaukee, Wolf River. Crabs 

 Brier, Gibb. Plums De Soto, Springer. Grapes Janes- 

 ville. Blackberries Ancient Briton, Stone. Raspberries 

 Loudqn. Strawberries Jessie. From Minnesota, 

 Wisconsin growers have the Wealthy; from Iowa, the 

 Patten Greening; and from Maine, the Dudley apples. 



The period of evolution occupied fully fifty years 

 from the forties to the nineties and was almost wholly 

 confined to amateur lines, the home orchard and garden. 

 In the past ten years the business of growing fruit for 

 market has developed very rapidly. While in 1902, a 

 60-acre apple orchard was the largest in the state, 

 orchards of 75 to 100 acres are not now uncommon. 



The principal orchard sections of the state comprise 

 parts of Bayfield, Door, Chippewa, Waupaca, Sauk, 

 Richland, and Crawford counties in addition to the 

 counties south of Door bordering on Lake Michigan. 

 Some of the best apple lands in the state are to be found 



