1692 



SOUTH DAKOTA 



river valleys considerable fruit is grown as far north 

 as the Minnesota line. North of this the orchards are 

 few and far between, the country being new and grain- 

 raising, stock-raising and dairying affording more prof- 

 itable sources of income. 



In making up a list of apples for planting throughout 

 the state, it will be a safe rule not to plant any variety 

 less hardy than Oldenburg and Wealthy, especially if 

 the planter desires a long-lived, fruitful orchard and 

 cannot afford to experiment. The State Horticultural 

 Society recommends the following for trial or general 

 cultivation in all of the twelve fruit districts; viz., 

 Oldenburg, Hibernal, Charlamoff, Wealthy. 



The largest orchard in the state is in Turner county, 

 consisting of 7,000 trees on about 132 acres. This or- 

 chard was planted in the early seventies and still yields 

 profitable crops. About 4,000 of the trees are Wealthy 

 and most of the remainder Oldenburg. 



Considerable trouble is experienced from root-killing 

 of the common apple seedling stocks. In the northern 

 part of the state, apple root-grafts root-kill every 

 winter unless deeply mulched. The winter of 1898-99 

 will long be remembered as the "root-killing" winter by 

 the fruit men of several northwestern states. Efforts are 

 now being made to remedy this trouble by testing the 

 Russian method of preventing root-killing; viz., the use 

 of the pure Siberian crab (Pyrus baccata), as a stock. 

 If the experiments are successful apple culture will be 

 practicable in both Dakotas and in a part of the Cana- 

 dian northwest. Piece root-grafting will not be a fair 

 test, as everything below ground should be Siberian. 

 (See Bull. 65 of S. D. Exp. Sta., and Am. Pom. Soc. 

 Report, 1899, p. 143.) 



Of plums, only those of the Americana type, such as 

 DeSoto, Wyant, Wolf, Forest Garden, Rollingstone and 

 Hawkeye, are of any value for general cultivation. 

 However, in the southern tier of counties already men- 

 tioned the Miner does well and is much grown. Prunus 

 Americana is indigenous throughout the state. Many 

 varieties from the native thickets are being grown by 

 the prairie settlers, and these will probably supersede 

 the varieties named above, which originated in Iowa, 

 Minnesota and Wisconsin. Plums rightly managed are 

 very profitable and the general interest in them is 

 increasing. The main trouble hitherto has been the 

 tender stocks upon which the hardy natives have been 

 worked. Myrobolan, St. Julien, Marianna, Southern 

 Chickasaw. peach, and other southern stocks all winter- 

 kill, leaving the hardy top to die. Such trees are a 

 delusion and a snare to the prairie planter, and this 

 fact is becoming more generally known. Trees worked 

 on Americana seedlings or trees on their own roots find 

 favor, as no trouble is then experienced from root- 

 killing. The western sand cherry (Prunus Besseyi), a 

 native of the state, is being tested as a stock at the 

 Experiment Station at Brookings. So far the indica- 

 tions are that it will be worthy of use as a dwarf stock 

 for amateur use, the trees being dwarfed and bearing 

 fruit at an early age. It is of some promise as a dwarf 

 stock for peaches, such trees being of suitable size for 

 convenient covering in winter or for growing in boxes. 



Of other orchard fruits, pears, quinces, apricots and 

 peaches find no place on the South Dakota fruit list. 

 Cherries are grown to a small extent in the southern 

 counties, but the crop is uncertain in most parts. 



Raspberries can be grown with winter protection. 

 Blackberries are not as hardy as raspberries. Straw- 

 berries are considerably grown in the southern part of 

 the state, and irrigation is found profitable, as it insures 

 a crop in dry seasons. Grapes are grown to some extent 

 in the southern part of the state, but northward suffer 

 severely from winter-killing and are not on the fruit list 

 recommended for that part of the state. Janesville, a 

 Labrusca x riparia (vulpina) hybrid, has been found 

 to be hardier than those of the Concord type. It is 

 probable that new varieties of grapes adapted to the 

 prairie northwest will be produced by plant-breeding, 

 using the indigenous Vitis riparia as a foundation. 

 Toward this end about 5,000 wild grape seedlings were 

 grown by the Experiment Station at Brookings in 1900, 

 and this work of plant-breeding is being conducted on 

 a large scale. 



Over 27,000 seedlings of various native fruits were 



SOUTH DAKOTA 



raised at this station in 1899-1900. The wild fruits are 

 being crossed with tame whenever possible, but the 

 main reliance is placed iipon pure selection, acting 

 upon the theory that "excess of food causes varia- 

 tion." The following native species have been taken 

 in hand in this plant-breeding work: sand cherry, choke 

 cherry, pin cherry, black currant, golden currant, goose- 

 berry, buffalo berry, grape, hazelnut, high bush cran- 

 berry, Juneberry, plum, red raspberry, black raspberry, 

 strawberry. The work with cultivated fruits is mainly 

 with the apple, an attempt being made to combine the 

 hardiness of the Russian sorts with the long-keeping 

 capacity of the best American winter varieties. Several 

 Siberian fruits have also been taken in hand. These 

 were picked up by the writer in 1897-98 when sent on a 

 ten months' tour of exploration in eastern Europe and 

 western and central Asia by U. S. Secretary of Agri- 

 culture Hon. James Wilson. The state Legislature in 

 March, 1901, granted an appropriation of $10,000 for a 

 "plant-breeding building," for improved facilities in the 

 breeding of horticultural and agricultural plants. 



Of conifers, the hemlock, white pine, balsam fir, 

 arborvitae and Norway spruce fail on the open prairie, 

 while Jack pine, bull pine, Scotch pine, northern red 

 cedar, western white spruce, and Colorado silver or blue- 

 spruce all do well in open exposure. Of deciduous trees, 

 the native species, such as ash, elm, box elder, black 

 wild cherry and hackberry, all do well. Cotton wood and 

 willows do well on moist land. Considerable loss was. 

 experienced in the earlier planting from a failure to- 

 recognize the fact that species covering a wide geo- 

 graphical range vary greatly in hardiness and that the 

 local indigenous form should be planted when possi- 

 ble. 



Floriculture is still in its infancy, there being very 

 few greenhouses in the state. The rich soil makes it 

 easy to raise large crops of vegetables, but so far the 

 trucking interests have assumed no importance, ex- 

 cept near the larger towns. Agriculture has been exten- 

 sive, rather than intensive. In a state yielding heavy 

 crops of wheat and other cereals, with a soil so rich 

 that commercial fertilizers are not thought of and barn- 

 yard manure so little considered that many farmers 

 prefer to move their barns rather than their manure 

 heaps, and with the burning of straw a common prac- 

 tice, the hoe is rarely seen; gang and sulky plows, self- 

 binders and riding cultivators are the -more favored 

 implements. In the course of time, with the increase in 

 population, will come a change in methods. Eastern 

 farmers and gardeners find that the soil and climate 

 demand decided modifications of eastern practices. 

 The list of hardy trees and shrubs would be much, 

 longer were it not for the fact that the severest freezing- 

 often comes when the ground is bare. 



The State Agricultural College at Brookings is a 

 flourishing institution, the annual attendance being 

 about five hundred. The United States Experiment 

 Station is in connection with the college and is busy 

 witlTthe problems presented in a new state. Farmers' 

 institutes and home reading courses are provided to 

 help in the dissemination of agricultural knowledge. 



The South Dakota State Horticultural Society is com- 

 posed of the amateur and professional fruitmen of the 

 state and is an earnest body of workers striving to 

 solve the problems presented to prairie horticulturists. 

 No state appropriation has been granted hitherto, so that 

 the proceedings at present are published from time to 

 time in the agricultural press of the state. The twelfth 

 annual meeting was held at Sioux Falls, January 22-24> 

 1901. The dry climate is very salubrious, and many 

 people suffering from poor health in warmer and moister 

 sections find relief here. 



South Dakota, the "Sunshine State," presents numer- 

 ous pressing problems as to varieties and methods of 

 cultivation. The latter are being rapidly solved. As 

 to hardy varieties, the modern discoveries in the prin- 

 ciples of plant-breeding will materially shorten the 

 period of evolution. Millions of seedlings will be grown 

 and many species bred together. It is only reasonable 

 to believe that from the ashes of these millions of seed- 

 lings, will arise, Phoanix-like, the "new creations." which 

 will dominate out future prairie pomology. 



N. E. HANSEN. 



