AMERICAN POMOEOGICAIy SOCIETY 
56 
fruit with which they were acquainted were quite unsuited to this region. 
The experience of a few persistent experimenters has demonstrated that with 
suitable varieties and methods of cultivation adapted to the local conditions, 
results very much better than those obtained by the haphazard experiences 
of unskilled settlers can be realized. 
In small fruits, especially, it has been shown that there is opportunity 
for the successful cultivation of quite a wide range of varieties, under reas- 
onably favorable soil conditions, when suitable varieties and approved meth- 
ods are adopted. A considerable portion of this province, especially in the 
south and east, is flat with heavy clay subsoil, and many failures in this 
class of soil have been due to lack of drainage rather than to climatic dis- 
advantages. 
Strawberries: A few cultivators have grown strawberries on a com- 
mercial scale with success, while many residents have been successful with 
them, for home use. Late spring frosts and early drouth are the two factors 
to be feared in growing strawberries, but a system of tillage has been worked 
out which successfully overcomes these dangers, and renders the cultiva- 
tion of strawberries quite as safe as wheat or any other leading crop grown 
here. The protection of the plants during the winter is not a serious matter, 
and can be readily accomplished by adopting approved methods. 
Currants: All the hardier varieties of currants may be quite safely 
grown, and they produce abundantly. Danger from spring frosts is probably 
not any greater here than in latitudes much farther south, where this fruit 
is generally grown. 
Raspberries: The hardier varieties of raspberries have been grown 
quite successfully without cover. This includes such varieties as Turner, 
Philadelphia, Minnetonka Ironclad, King, Shippers Pride, etc. Black cap 
varieties usually require cover in winter. A plan of growing raspberries in 
parallel rows, fairly close together, in an exposed location, has been found 
satisfactory. In such a position the plants will he entirely covered w r ith 
snow, which in this region forms drifts wherever there is a favorable ob- 
struction. As the snow remains throughout the entire winter, the plants 
have a cover which gives them ample protection. Raspberries suffer readily 
from the warm, dry weather which we are liable to have in this region in 
early summer, but injury from this source can be provided against by careful 
tillage, followed by a heavy mulch, or frequent surface cultivation to provide 
a dust mulch; the latter is the preferable plan. 
Blackberries: These require a longer season than can be safely counted 
upon in this province. I have had the plants loaded with fruit, but it is 
usually lost by being frozen before maturity. 
Gooseberries: The varieties of this fruit that have been grown success- 
fully are somewhat limited, but they are very productive. The American 
variety called Houghton has been found the best and is grown in favorable 
locations without cover, though it will give best returns with some protec- 
tion. The best cover for gooseberries I have found is brush thrown over 
the plants to gather snow. With this protection some of the more tender 
varieties will produce fine crops of fruit. 
Grapes: The season is too short to ripen grapes of any of the well 
known varieties. The Beta grape, an improved native variety of Minnesota* 
