379 



In this way also one may be sure of securing a variety sufficiently 

 early to ripen before frost as all of the sorts of the American Plum 

 brought from other localities will not. There are now over 

 a hundred varieties of the same plum that is found growing wild 

 in our state offered for sale. 



A few of these are growing at the station, the most of them 

 just coming into bearing. These were only partially protected 

 on the south and last fall a violent gale coming just after an ex- 

 cessive fall of rain blew them over. They were then removed to 

 a better protected location. This circumstance shows that it is 

 quite necessary to provide good shelter, though it must not be 

 placed so as to allow the snow to drift over the trees. 



The trees may be further protected by planting them close 

 together, as close as six by ten feet. They should be planted 

 considerably deeper then they grew in the nursery row or native 

 thicket. This will enable them to stand the winds better and 

 will afford better root protection in winter. 



Before planting the land may be ridged by plowing it in 

 narrow strips setting the rows of trees between the ridges in the 

 dead-furrows, pulverizing the soil well first. With this method 

 of planting, which insures loss from drouth, a quantity of black 

 surface soil should be put around the roots of each tree in plant- 

 ing. 



Keep the grass and weeds out and the soil moist by frequent 

 cultivation. The trees will begin bearing in three or four years. 

 A mulch of old straw spread on the ground after cultivation for 

 the season has stopped will prevent root-killing in any open win- 

 ters. It may also be necessary to bind tar paper about the trunk 

 of each tree in the winter to protect from mice and rabbits. There 

 is a very large list of varities to select from that are a decided 

 improvement over the ordinary wild type, especially in size. Some 

 of these ripen their fruit too late for the far north. The De 

 Soto, Forest Garden, Cheney, Wolf, Rollingstone, Wyant and Sur- 

 prise is the list recommended by the Minnesota Horticultural So- 

 ciety for general cultivation. 



APPLES. 



To the average man fruit growing means apples. All over 

 the country on farms where no special effort is made to raise fruit 

 one will find apple trees growing. Because of the great adaptability 

 of the apple to meet varying conditions this is true over large 

 regions that a generation or two ago produced no apples. Generally 



