NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS FIELD STATION IN 1923 9 
Raspberries. — Herbert, King, and Sunbeam were the best yielders^ 
while Latham produced the finest fruit. No variety yielded as much 
as a quart to the bush, but still this small fruit did considerably 
better than it does in most years. 
Straicherries. — As is usually the case, strawberries were not a satis- 
factory crop under dry-land conditions. Duluth (Minnesota No. 
1017), Bederarena and*^ Minnehaha (Minnesota No. 935) were the 
best yielders. However, Duluth (the highest yielder) produced only 
about 10 quarts to 100 feet of row, and most varieties produced only 
2 or 3 quarts. A new strawberry bed will be started in 1924. 
Juneherries. — This fruit was a failure in 1923. The crop was light 
and birds ate most of the berries. 
Sand cherries. — ^Although a little lacldng in size, sand cherries were 
prolific and fairh^ satisfactory in 1923. The Sioux was the best 
variety tested. 
CULTURAL EXPERIMENTS AND DEMONSTRATIONS 
Fruit trees in the cultural experiments and demonstrations gener- 
ally did well. Eabbits did a great deal of damage to apples and 
crabs, however, making it necessary to cut back many of the trees 
to within a few feet of the ground. Many trees were completely 
girdled just above the snow line, which amounted to a very severe 
pruning and promoted a rank growth of new wood frona the remain- 
ing parts. 
Hardiness experiment. — Clean cultivation, a cover crop, mulching 
with straw during the winter, and manuring are compared in this 
cultural test. As in past 3^ears, the different cultural treatments did 
not have very marked effects on either the hardiness of the trees or 
the yield and quality of the fruit. The two blocks receiving a straw 
mulch during the winter gave the highest average yields and the 
clean-cultivated blocks the lowest. Blocks on the west side of this 
experiment produced considerably more than blocks on the east side, 
regardless of the treatment. The trees in this experiment are spaced 
8 by 12 feet, which is too close for the development of the best grade 
of fruit. 
Pruning experiment. — Apples and crabs in this experiment were 
damaged so severely by rabbits that all were removed and new trees 
planted. Some of the plum-sand-cherry hybrids started to bear 
fruit. The yields generally were highest on unpruned trees, but the 
fruit was largest and of a superior grade on the severely pruned trees. 
The pruning experiment in the plum varietal orchard gave the 
usual results, a greater yield on unpruned trees but larger fruit on 
pruned trees. Severely pruned trees yielded about the same on an 
average as moderately pruned trees in 1923. The moderately 
pruned trees gave higher average yields in previous years. 
The whitewashed trees in the pruning experiment were so severely 
damaged by rabbits that they all received the equivalent of a very 
severe pruning and produced little or no fruit. The salt in the 
whitewash probably attracted the rabbits. 
Spacing experiment. — Trees in the spacing or planting systems 
experiment made a fair growth during the summer,, and good stands 
prevail in the different blocks. 
38114— 25t—BiiU. 1337 2 
