Trees, Fruits and Flowers of Minnesota, 1916 Part 16

Mr. Simmons: Always have been very satisfactory; that has been my only market.

FIGHTING MOTHS WITH PARASITES.--Over 12,000,000 specimens of two parasites which prey on the gipsy moth and brown-tail moth were released in 201 towns in Maine, New Hampshire, Ma.s.sachusetts and Rhode Island during the fall of 1914 and spring of 1915, according to the annual report of the Bureau of Entomology, United States Department of Agriculture.

As a result of the successful establishment of colonies of these and other parasites which feed on the gipsy and brown-tail moths, marked progress is being made in reducing these pests. Effective co-operation is being afforded by the States, which carry on as much work as possible within the infested areas, thus allowing the Federal authorities to carry on field work along the outer border of infestation, so as to r.e.t.a.r.d the gipsy moth's spread.--U.S. Dept. of Agri.

Annual Meeting. 1915, S.D. State Horticultural Society.

WM. PFAENDER, JR., NEW ULM, MINN., DELEGATE.

Arrived at Huron, S.D., Monday night, January 17, 1916. The officers as well as the members gave me a very fine reception and, although I am a life member, I was made an honorary member of the society, and during my stay was entertained very agreeably.

I attended all meetings. The society had three meetings each day, except Thursday, the 20th, when there was no meeting held in the evening. On account of the very cold weather the attendance from outside was not as large as it should have been.

Some very interesting papers were read. Mr. E. D. Cowles, of Vermillion, in his paper on "What to do when your grape vines freeze back,"

advocated to break off the shoots (do not cut them off) near the old wood, so that new shoots would start from the same bud or eye and would produce a crop.

The papers by the president, Rev. F. A. Ha.s.sold, "Relation of Horticulture to Home-Making" at the meeting, and "Community Effort in Rural Life" at the banquet, were very fine and much appreciated by the audience.

Professor N. E. Hansen in his paper, "New Fruits," stated, among other things, that he had made a large number of crosses with Chinese sand pears and other pears, and that he expects to get from the crosses varieties that will be blight proof, and that he intends to continue experiments along this line.

Two very able and much appreciated papers at the banquet were: "Landscape Gardening," by Miss Hazel J. Kent, and "Transforming a Place Into a Home," by Mrs. Geo. H. Whiting, both of Yankton, S.D.

Governor Byrney was present at the banquet and in his address congratulated the horticulturists of South Dakota on what they have attained and encouraged them in their difficult undertakings.

Your delegate was asked to give notes on "Minnesota Fruit Culture,"

which he did to the best of his ability. The discussions after each paper were interesting and instructive.

The meeting was a very successful one and all present appreciated the fact that these gatherings a.s.sist in developing this great Northwest in horticulture, forestry and many other ways.

Annual Report, 1915, Sauk Rapids Trial Station.

MRS. JENNIE STAGER, SUPT.

Warm weather this last spring came quite early, and with bated breath we waited for the usual frost, but still it came not. The plum orchard became a wilderness of bloom; the buds of the apple trees began coyly to unfold their dainty loveliness; p.u.s.s.y willows flaunted their sweetness on the air--while the birds sang their love notes from trees and bushes.

Then frost came--not once, but night after night. Thus our hopes, which had risen with every promise of a bountiful harvest, fell with the thermometer far below zero. When fall came both plum and apple orchards made so poor a showing, not only here but all around this part of the country, that we had hardly enough fruit for our own uses.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Mrs. Stager's grandchildren among the roses of one year's growth.]

We had a great deal of rain, all through the spring and into the summer.

Strawberries, that generally do well in wet weather, did not bless us with their usual abundance. Currants and gooseberries also left us in the lurch--but the Snyder blackberries were loaded with luscious fruit, while raspberries--why the berries of the Golden Queen bent the stalks down with their weight. Prof. Hansen's Sunbeams were covered with berries, as were all of the seedling raspberries sent from the Breeding Farm three years ago, Nos. six and seven, of the red ones, bore the largest and firmest berries. I had quite a time keeping the blossoms off the everbearing strawberries sent here in the spring from the State Breeding Farm. Although I had bought and planted three named--and very much extolled--other kinds of everbearers, none of them were as prolific in plants, and extra large berries, as those unnamed ones from the State Breeding Farm. We had our first berries from them in August.

When we had our fair here, the last of September, I made quite a showing of them, from the size of a bean (green) to a crab apple (ripe), surrounded by leaves and blossoms. They were still covered with bloom when the hard frosts came.

The two small hybrid plums sent did not make much growth. Most vegetables that have always grown so well in other summers did very poorly this year. Out of four hundred and seventy-five tomato plants, taken the best of care of by Inez, my granddaughter, for the state tomato contest, we did not get one bushel of good ripe ones. Lima and other table beans were planted three times (on account of rotting in the ground) and then did not ripen. No ripe corn. In fact, about all the vegetables that came to fruition were peas, cauliflower and cabbage.

Of flowers, sweet peas, pansies and early lilies were fine, although growing things were late. Paeonies had very few flowers. However, roses were ma.s.ses of bloom. Moss roses did the best ever, also large bushes of Rosa Rugosa (you see this year, we had neither the ubiquitous potato bug, rose bug, caterpillar or any other varmint to war against); quite a number gave us blooms all summer. Then most of them threw out strong new plants, as do the raspberries, from the roots. On the whole, with our bounteous harvest of grain and so forth in this blessed country, we can be thankful we are alive.

KEEP YOUTH ON THE FARM.--"What can we do to keep our young people free from the deceiving lure of the city and contented to remain on the farm?".

The following was prepared by C. W. Kneale, of Niwot, Colo., a student in civics in the Colorado School of Agriculture, as a part of his regular cla.s.s work. Young Kneale, although a student, has some excellent ideas which "Father" and "Mother" might do well to ponder carefully:

"Get good books, magazines and farm papers for them to read.

"Have some kind of lodges for them to go to, such as the Grange.

"Arrange it so they can have a party or entertainment once in a while.

"Go with them to church every Sunday.

"Arrange it so they can have one or more picnics every year.

"Teach them how to do all kinds of farm work, by giving them a small tract of land to farm for themselves and showing them how to raise their crops, and have them help you with your work.

"Give them a horse which they can ride or drive when they haven't anything to do, or when they want to go anywhere.

"Teach them to love and be kind to animals."

Ravages of the Buffalo Tree Hopper.

"Mr. Latham recently sent me some twigs of apple tree very badly injured with what we call the buffalo tree hopper. These scars are made entirely by the female in the act of egg-laying. This process of egg-laying takes place from the last part of July until the leaves drop in the fall. The eggs hatch the following spring. The young forms do not feed at all upon the apple but get their nourishment by sucking the juices from the weeds and gra.s.ses in the immediate neighborhood of the orchard.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Buffalo Tree Hopper and its work]

"The injury of this particular tree hopper is bad because the insect in egg-laying makes two slits, side by side, afterwards poking the eggs beneath the bark. As the tree continues to grow, the area between the slits dies, making a very rough appearance of the bark and an area into which spores of disease and bacteria may enter. The twig that is badly scarred very often dies, and sometimes young trees just set out are marked so badly that they succ.u.mb.

"The only practical remedy against such a pest is clean cultivation of the orchard, as one can readily work out from knowing the life history.

It is possible that some of the sprays like Bordeaux mixture, or self-boiled lime-sulphur, sprayed and kept active on the trees during the month of August would deter these hoppers from laying eggs. However, we have had no practical experience along this line, although we do know that trees under clean cultivation are not affected."--A. G. Ruggles, Head of Section of Spraying and Tree Insects, University Farm, St. Paul.

MINNESOTA NO. 3 STRAWBERRY.--A communication from Peter Jackson, Cloquet, says: "I had my first trial of the Minnesota No. 3 strawberry last year and they did finely. I had one hundred twenty-five quarts from sixty plants." Who can do better than that?