February 18, 1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



83 



should be fastened with fine wire, such as is used for nursery- 

 tree labels, because pins fail to hold the sacks satisfactorily in 

 heavy storms. In about two or three weeks the paper sack 

 should be removed and a sack of mosquito netting substituted. 

 The paper sacks will withstand the ordinary wind and rain 

 storms of an entire summer and fall, but the fruit does not 

 hold on as well as when mosquito-netting sacks are used, 

 soon after the fruit has set, to give access to sunshine and air. 



" In crossing Grapes, from fifteen to thirty flowers were left in 

 each cluster. I found that pollenizing could be performed to 

 good advantage by taking clusters of bloom just opened and 

 fastening them with string and fine wire in close proximity to 

 the emasculated clusters. This was much easier than gather- 

 ing the pollen and applying it with a camel's-hair brush. 

 Paper sacks were used until the grapes were well set, then 

 mosquito netting. 



"The principal work was with the native Crab [Pyrus coro- 

 narici). The two representatives of this species used were a 

 large-fruited variety growing on the grounds of Mr. B. A. 

 Mathews, at Knoxville, Iowa, and the Soulard Crab. Pollen was 

 applied of the followingfourtcen varieties : William's Favorite, 

 Jonathan, Ben Davis, Pound Sweet, White Pippin, Willow 

 Twig, Roman Stem, Summer Pearmain, Grimes' Golden, Red 

 Stripe, Haas, Mother, Munson's Sweet, American Beauty or 

 Sheriff. Sixty-eight fruits were obtained, containing 235 seeds. 

 The hope is that we can combine the hardiness of the wild 

 Crab with the size, quality and color of the cultivated Apple. 

 If this l>e not accomplished by the first crosses the work is to 

 be continued, using these as a foundation. 



"The work with the Soulard was done near Des Moines, and 

 its pollen was applied to the Red Stripe, Summer Pearmain, 

 Ben Davis, Jonathan, Early Joe, Haas, Plum's Cider, Lowell. 

 One hundred and forty-one fruits, containing 590 seeds, were 

 obtained. 



"The general theory followed in this work is that hardiness 

 is imparted by the seed-bearing parent ; quality and size by the 

 pollen-bearing parent. But, to test the theory, Rawles' Janet 

 was pollenized with Mr. Mathews' Crab, and twenty-nine 

 apples, containing ill seeds, were obtained. With the Rasp- 

 berries the chief aim was to combine the earliness of Tyler 

 and Marlboro with the size and quality of Shaffer's Colossal and 

 Antwerp, and to improve the color and shipping qualities of 

 Shaffer's. With the Blackberries the aim was to increase the 

 hardiness and improve the fruit and habit of growth. The wild 

 Blackberry was crossed with Snyder and Stone's Hardy, and the 

 cultivated Blackberry with Lucretia and Windom Dewberries. 

 The purpose is to obtain a variety with fruit as large as the 

 Lucretia Dewberry or Erie Blackberry, and with a half-reclin- 

 ing habit, so as to keep the berries out of the dirt, and yet 

 make winter protection easy. where that is necessary ; also to 

 combine the hardiness of Snyder with the quality of Taylor's 

 Prolific. 



"The Blackberry and Raspberry were hybridized, and berries 

 of both were obtained. These two species have been united 

 before this by Saunders, Carman and others, but, so far as I 

 know, no valuable variety has been obtained. The union 

 appears to be too violent. But the plants produced have not 

 all fruited, and, perhaps, success may yet be attained. Prob- 

 ably the best results will be from seedlings of these hybrid 

 fruits ; that is, by partial reversion the plant will be largely of 

 one species, but retaining some desirable characteristic of the 

 other species, thus giving it a special value. 



"With Grapes the plan was to combine the earliness of Wor- 

 den, Cottage, Champion and Moore's Early with the fine quality 

 of Empire State, Salem, Agawam and Vergennes. Worden 

 was the chief variety used as the pistillate parent, because it 

 combines, in a pre-eminent degree, hardiness, earliness and 

 productiveness." 



STONE FRUITS AND THEIR PROPAGATION. 



Professor J. L. Budd, in speaking on this subject, said that 

 none of the varieties of Cherries first introduced into Iowa 

 from south-west Europe have proved really satisfactory except 

 in a few favorable locations. Some of the varieties introduced 

 by the Iowa Agricultural College from north-east Germany and 

 Russia promise well in parts of Iowa and the north-west, 

 where the older varieties have failed to live. As for propa- 

 gation of the Cherry, root-grafting on Mazzard is better here 

 than budding on Mahaleb. Promising hardy stocks are Prii7ius 

 Pennsylvanica, Primus pumila and east European forms of the 

 Morello. European experience favors growing all the stone 

 fruits on their own roots, especially from root-cuttings. Suc- 

 cessful experiments in growing stone fruits from short root- 

 cuttings have recently been carried on at the Iowa Agricultural 

 College. The Myrobalan, Black Damson and St. Julien have 



proved failures as budding stocks for the Plum in the west, 

 because they are not hardy and are liable to root-kill in the 

 nursery. Native Plum stocks of the type of De Soto, Wolf, 

 Wyant, Hawkeye, etc., are the best stocks obtainable for 

 western use for the native and foreign varieties. 



Sun-scald and gumming of the stem can be- avoided in a 

 large measure by growing the trees in bush form with very 

 low stems, those not more than a foot high being preferable. 

 Trees on tender stocks should be set from four to six inches 

 deeper than they stood in the nursery, to protect the roots and 

 to encourage the emission of roots from the scion. One-year 

 trees of the stone fruits are best for planting in orchard. 

 Regular bearing is promoted by mixed planting of several 

 varieties to insure better pollenization of blossoms. 



FORESTRY FOR THE NORTH-WEST. 



The following extracts are from the address of Mr. C. F. 

 Gardner, of Osage, Iowa : 



"In a prairie region like ours it is useless to plant trees until 

 the sod has been turned and completely rotted and the soil 

 mellowed. On an open prairie the first requisite is protection 

 against winds. The ground for shelter-belts should be pre- 

 pared first, and rapid-growing evergreens planted. My plan is to 

 plow a strip not less than a rod wide, enclosing the area to be 

 planted in forest. I go over this strip with a pulverizer until 

 the soil is in fit condition to plant Onion seeds, and then plow 

 a deep furrow, perfectly straight, on the line of the proposed 

 hedge-row. In this furrow I set the trees, digging deeper with 

 a spade when necessary, so that the trees will stand a little 

 deeper than they grew in the nursery. Trees about eighteen 

 inches high that have been transplanted should be chosen. 



"I would recommend the following selection of shelter-trees 

 in the order of their merit: White Pine, Norway Spruce, 

 White Spruce, Scotch Pine, Red Cedar and Arbor Vita?. 

 Plant White Pine or Scotch Pine not more than two feet apart 

 in the row, the other varieties not more than eighteen inches. 

 This gives a chance, in thinning, to leave the Pine at eight feet 

 apart and the others six feet. The thinning must be done 

 before the plants begin to crowd ; either transplant them or 

 cut them out. 



" After planting the ground should be kept absolutely free 

 from grass and weeds ; but it should be cultivated very shal- 

 low, never more than two inches deep, and less than that if 

 possible. Go over this belt with a hoe as many times as 

 necessary during the season. 



" After the wind-break is started prepare the enclosed area for 

 the planting of forest-trees. Free the surface from all clods, 

 corn-stalks and rubbish. Mark off, in rows four feet apart, 

 rows running east and west. Plant no tree within twenty-four 

 feet of the wind-break already planted. This space should be ' 

 planted with Corn, Potatoes or Beans. By planting in this way 

 the wind-break or the forest-trees will never be broken down 

 by drifting snow. In winters where the fall of snow is heavy, 

 accompanied with high winds, it is not unusual for the snow 

 to pile up from twelve to fifteen feet deep on the side of the 

 wind-break opposite the direction from which the wind comes. 

 Such volumes of snow are extremely liable to crush everything 

 beneath them, as we have found to our cost. 



"The Black Wain ut, Butternut and Ash should be interspersed 

 with the other varieties, as their foliage is not dense enough 

 to properly shade the ground during the earlier stages of their 

 growth. Always plant two or three times as many seeds as 

 the number of seedlings you desire, for there is always a loss 

 from mice, birds, accidents, etc. The trees should stand, at 

 the end of the first year, not more than six or twelve inches 

 apart. The end to be attained at first is to have the ground com- 

 pletely shaded as soon as possible. When this is secured, at 

 all stages of growth thereafter, the thinning process should be 

 so conducted as to keep it covered. At the end of the 

 second year the plants ought to be thinned to two feet in the 

 row." 



Upon the same subject Mr. M. E. Hinckley said that there 

 was little waste land in north-western Iowa, and while each 

 acre in grass or grain yields immediate income people will not 

 plant timber extensively, and yet, except in the newer sections, 

 it is rare to see a farm without some trees. One to five, and 

 sometimes ten, and rarely twenty, acres are found in groves. 

 These groves are composed almost entirely of native trees, 

 with some White Willow and Catalpa. Trees on low land are 

 noticeably most vigorous. The Black Walnut bears when ten 

 years old, and the White Ash at fifteen years gives a stick fit 

 for a wagon tongue. Two acres of Maple and Willow furnish 

 a family with fuel for a year, renewing itself as needed. The 

 Catalpa comes short of expectation, and its introduction in this 



