July 



THE POMOLOGIST. 



91 



Northeastern Iowa as an Apple Country. 



BY SAM'l MUHDOCK, CLAYTON CO. 



Wlioii I first came to this portion of the 

 Statu I brcame impressed with the opinion 

 tliat the soil, climate, and topography ol' tlial 

 portion of the county lyiug along the 

 Mississippi and its triinitaries would in a 

 few years produce the finest apple orchards 

 in the great West. 



Iq view of this opinion I commenced the 

 experiment in my co\inty among the first of 

 her settlers, and I believe I raised the first 

 apples that was ever grown on what was 

 called the High Prairie of Clayton county. 

 I was not, however, tlie first one who pro- 

 duced an apple in tlie county. Henry 

 Redman, au old pioneer, a Keutuckian by 

 birth, and a noble, generous-Iiearted speci- 

 men of frontier life, in one of his migrations, 

 brought with him from his native State a 

 few apple seeds. These he planted with 

 great care in his garden, on Turkey river, 

 and airefully watched their growth until 

 they l)ore liim fruit. Some of them are still 

 standing, and have been bearing for more 

 tlian a quarter of a century. Near the root of 

 one of them the oldest pioneer in fruit-grow, 

 ing in Northern Iowa sleeps his last sleep. 

 In tlie spring of 1843, an iuterprising man 

 liy the name of Owen came to Prairie-La- 

 P<;irte, now Guttenburg, with a small stock 

 of trees, and established a small nursery, but 

 unfortunately he fell a victim to the fever the 

 first season, and left his trees to the care of 

 au executor. He was a scientific man, and 

 thoroughly acquainted with every branch of 

 horticulture, and his loss at that time was a 

 severe blow to the interests of Clayton 

 county. From this executor I purchased, 

 with some of my neighbors, a small lot of 

 trees, and from these trees I raised my first 

 apples. JN early half my trees from this pur- 

 chase are still standing good and sound and 

 for more than twenty years have produced 

 abundance of fine fruit, while among my 

 neiglibors I do not think there is one left. 

 Since that time I have from time to time in- 

 creased my stock of trees, and still patronize 

 tlie generous nurseryman as he semi-annually 

 visits my humble abode, until at last I have a 

 good stock of trees that bid defiance to heat 

 or cold. True, since the winters of '57 and 

 ■^8, 1 have sutl'ercd with the rest in the loss 

 of trees, but while I have lost comparatively 

 few, many have lost them all. More thau 

 once within the last two years has the cry 

 been raised that apples cannot be success- 

 fnlly grown in Northern Iowa, and this 

 results from the fact that within the period 

 I have mentioned, there have been winters 

 of unusual severity among fruit trees. But 

 those who raise this cry are not aware that 

 beyond the limits of Iowa, from the best 

 fruit-growing districts of America, comes 

 the bewailing moan, " Our orcliards are 

 dying out, and we cannot replace them with 

 new ones." Four years ago I passed through 



several of the best fruit-growing States in 

 the Union, to the Atlantic, a during a trip of 

 several thousand miles I did not see as good 

 an orchard as your own, nor do I believe its 

 equal can be found in America, taking every- 

 thing into consideration. At least I have 

 seen nothing to compare with it, eitlier in 

 Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, or Penn- 

 sylvania ; and I will here state that I have 

 seen better, and more sound apple trees 

 north of a line running through (east or 

 west,) on the south line of Jackson county 

 and east of the Wapsapiidcon river, to the 

 Minnesota line, than I have seen in tlie 

 States I have mentioned. Now when we 

 take all these things into consideration, are 

 we not extemcly blessed over many of our 

 sister States, who could once grow tlie apple 

 ill perfection, but who are to-da}', almost in 

 despair over repeated failures? Again, I 

 believe I can say without fear of successful 

 contradiction, that with the exception of the 

 State of Michigan, and perhaps Missouri, 

 Iowa has lost fewer trees in proportion, than 

 any of tlie fruit-growing States east of lier 

 And, moreover, young orchards can be reared 

 hc're, and brought into bearing, while in 

 many of the older fruit-growing States they 

 cannot be raised at all. Let us, therefore 

 take courage from these facts and observa- 

 tions, and continue our elibrts to adorn and 

 embellish our farms with good orchards. 



In North-western Iowa the country is 

 rolling, lies high, and in many places is 

 tumbled up into thousands of fantastic hills, 

 down whose sides dash as many streams of 

 the purest water. The soil, with the excep- 

 tion of here and there a span of the great prai- 

 rie beyond, being a rich clay. Over this belt 

 of country exists, from one years' end to the 

 other, the clearest, purest, and brightest 

 atmosphere in America, where universal 

 health abounds among men, and where a 

 grape never mildews, and an apple- bloom 

 scracely knows a frost. True, there are locali- 

 ties where trees cannot flourish, for the apple 

 wilt never prosper ou a rich mucky soil in 

 any country, nor will it grow and bear on 

 our rich river valleys, or on low, flat prairies. 

 But on our hill sides, on our high, dry 

 ridges, on our timber soil, on our stony 

 points, and along the slopes of our river 

 blulVs, it will flourish and bloom in all its 

 beauty. 



Within the last ten years I have seen 

 growing up over the prairies of Clayton 

 county , many young and flourishing orchards, 

 but to-day many of them are gone ; and I 

 noticed that those who cultivated the most 

 have met witli the greatest loss, while those 

 that have been planted on timber soil, and 

 have received less cultivation, have passed 

 through our hardest winters untouched, and 

 are paying their owners every year an 

 ample reward. I have also noticed that 

 those who have manured their trees have 

 lost them all, in almost every instance, while 



those who cultivited slightly, and used no 

 manure, liave still fine young orchards. I 

 have cultivated the ground around certain 

 varieties in my garden, and have lost the 

 trees, while the same variety standing in the 

 sod, not twenty feet away, were still sound 

 and good. Certainly these observations 

 ought to teach us a leeson in the care and 

 management of our fruit trees. Now, not- 

 withstanding all this, young trees must be 

 cultivated for four or five years after setting. 

 We must take the risk but whenever a 

 person is apprehensive that he has cultivated 

 too higlily, and a hard winter is approaching, 

 let him wind his trees with straw, or rags 

 or anything that will give them a covering. 

 I have never seen a tree winter-killed that 

 was wrapped with a covering during winter. 

 All are aware that there are some varieties 

 of apples that are more hardy than others, 

 but it is also true, that a variety may prove 

 hardy with one man, and tender with his 

 next door neighbor, and this results from 

 the fact that one may have the tree on dry, 

 thin soil, while the other is set in mud ; one 

 may have used no manure, while the other 

 may have sickened his with its application ; 

 one may have kept his cattle out of orchard, 

 while the other has turned his in; and when 

 these two men meet at the Farmer's Club 

 they are sure to get up a quarrel over the 

 hardiness of diflereut kinds of fruit. I 

 believe, with care and observation, the most 

 tender varieties of apples can be grown in 

 our country, I have proved it; you have 

 proved it; and Mr. Griunell, of my county, 

 has proved it, and a hundred others whom 

 I could name, have proved it. With all 

 these facts and observations before us, let us 

 go on and leave the croakers to be our cus- 

 tomers, and perhaps they will learn wisdom 

 when too late. I rejoice to hear of the pros- 

 perity of your Society, and extend to you 

 and others' my sincere and hearty thanks for 

 the uoble stand you have taken in the cause 

 of horticulture in our young and noble 

 State.— Transaciioiis I. S. H. Society. 



ITransplanting Pie-Plant. 



Friend Miller :— Will it do to take up 

 and divide the stools of Rhubarb and plant 

 out in the fall ? My plants have stood so 

 long that they are very large and I think 

 need division and re-setting to produce the 

 best results. I wish to know the most favor- 

 able season to do the work, and whether fall 

 w'ill do. John H. Stier. 



Clyde, Jasper Co., Iowa. 



Remarks. — Rhubarb, more commonly 

 called pie-plant, may be taken up, the eyes 

 separated with a sharp knife and re-set at 

 almost any time in the season from early 

 spring to late fall, though we would advise 

 either spring or fall for the work. If spring, 

 do the work just as soon as the stools can be 

 dug, or if fall, let it be after the plant is 

 pretty well through with tlie season's growth. 

 The plant should not stand more thau three 

 or four years without division and replaut- 

 iug. 



