NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 2191 



variety of good soil and vegetation, and abundance of 

 lakes, afford many very picturesque and beautiful loca- 

 tions for successful horticulture. 



The annual precipitation averages about 25 inches, 

 and is well distributed during the growing season. The 

 snowfall is light, and what falls remains usually during 

 the winter. The spring usually opens early, and the 

 transition from winter to spring is very rapid. The soil 

 at St. Paul and southward can generally be worked by 

 April 15, and frequently earh'er. The summers and 

 autumns are bright and sunny, and vegetation grows 

 with great rapidity. 



Currants, gooseberries, raspberries, blackberries, 

 strawberries, juneberries, americana plums, and the 

 frost or river-bank grapes are native fruits that are found 

 wild in abundance in favorable locations throughout the 



2501. Minnesota, showing the best developed horticultural parts. 



state. Most of the well-known cultivated sorts of the 

 five species first named do well under cultivation, and 

 large quantities are raised for home consumption and 

 are profitably marketed. The Concord, Worden, 

 Delaware, and grapes of similar character, are easily 

 raised in the many good locations along the lake shores 

 and the river bluffs, and this is an important industry, 

 notwithstanding the fact that the grapes have to be 

 covered in winter, which adds somewhat to the expense 

 of culture. However, on account of the peculiar 

 adaptability of the Delaware grape to some of the soils 

 and to the climate, it is raised with profit in competition 

 with the growers of the eastern states, though the Con- 

 cord is not high enough in price by one cent a pound to 

 permit of this to any great extent. 



Apples are raised on a commercial scale in southern 

 and eastern Minnesota, the high, rolling land in the 

 southeastern part being especially well adapted to their 



cultivation. The varieties of the eastern and central 

 states generally prove a failure here. The Duchess of 

 Oldenburg is the standard of hardiness in apples, and 

 can be grown successfully in good locations as far north 

 as St. Paul, and in a small way 100 miles farther north. 

 The Talman Sweet is raised to some extent, but is liable 

 to suffer in severe winters. The Minnesota seedling 

 apple known as the Wealthy is generally the most profit- 

 able kind grown. (See Gideon, page 1577.) A great 

 many Russian varieties were formerly planted, but 

 have proved unsatisfactory in most cases and very few 

 are now grown. The hardiest variety of this origin so 

 far found is the Hibernal, which represents a class of 

 sour autumn apples that will thrive on suitable soil in 

 almost any part of the state. The Charlamoff is another 

 very hardy early autumn apple of the same class. 

 Such hybrid crabs as the Transcendent, Gideon No. 6, 

 Minnesota, Florence and Lyman, may be successfully 

 grown in suitable locations and soil over most of the 

 state. Considerable attention is being given to top- 

 grafting on hardy stocks, such as Virginia, Hibernal and 

 Gould Crab. This has proved a good method in many 

 parts of the state and in the northern 

 part appears to be the best way to 

 establish apple orchards. Some good- 

 sized apple orchards are found along 

 the Mississippi River in southeast Min- 

 nesota and in the Lake Minnetonka 

 regions. The fruit associations about 

 Lake Minnetonka alone do a business 

 of $50,000 to $75,000 a year. 



The americana class of plums is found 

 growing wild all over the state, and 

 the fruit is gathered in large quanti- 

 ties. The cultivated sorts of this class 

 are easily grown everywhere. Wild 

 plums can generally be obtained in 

 abundance in autumn at about $1.50 a 

 bushel. There is no variety of any 

 other class of plums that is appreciably 

 cultivated, although in very favorable 

 locations a few of the Japan and domes- 

 tic sorts are grown. 



Cherries may be successfully grown 

 on a large scale in extreme southeastern 

 Minnesota, and there are some com- 

 mercial orchards there, but generally 

 throughout the state the fruit-buds are 

 so injured in winter that the trees are 

 unproductive, although they may make 

 a very satisfactory tree growth. 



Pears usually blight to death early, 

 and there is no variety that is gener- 

 ally cultivated. Several of the Russian 

 pears are as hardy as the Duchess 

 apple, but they have died, so far as 

 they have been tried, from blight be- 

 fore becoming very productive. Apri- 



LA CROS5E 



cots are not sufficiently hardy. 



The most common injury to trees is known as sun- 

 scald of the trunks, which often causes severe loss. It 

 is easily avoided by shading the trunks. Blight seri- 

 ously injures some varieties of apples. Winter-pro- 

 tection of various kinds is important and carefully 

 attended to by the best horticulturists. 



Vegetables of all the kinds grown in the northern 

 states are very easily raised, and the display of these 

 products in the large markets is excellent. Cabbage, 

 cauliflower, celery, peas, lettuce, potatoes, beans, corn, 

 cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, watermelons, musk- 

 melons and eggplant are to be had in abundance, and 

 the markets are often glutted with them. Native musk- 

 melons and tomatoes occasionally retail at 10 to 15 

 cents a bushel. The canning of vegetables is becoming 

 an important industry at several points. The climate 

 seems to be especially favorable to vegetables, and there 



