Trees, Fruits and Flowers of Minnesota Part 4

WELCOME THE THRUSHES--THESE BIRDS DO THE FARMER LITTLE HARM AND MUCH GOOD.--That thrushes--the group of birds in which are included robins and bluebirds--do a great deal of good and very little harm to agriculture is the conclusion reached by investigators of the United States Department of Agriculture who have carefully studied the food habits of these birds. Altogether there are within the limits of the United States eleven species of thrushes, five of which are commonly known as robins and bluebirds. The other six include the Townsend solitaire, the wood, the veery, the gray-cheek, the olive-back, and the hermit thrushes.--U.S. Dept. of Agri.

Report of Committee on Examination of Minnesota State Fruit-Breeding Farm for the Year 1915.

DR. O. M. HUESTIS, MINNEAPOLIS; FRANK H. GIBBS, ST. ANTHONY PARK.

On the morning of October 12, 1915, your committee visited the State Fruit-Breeding Farm, was met at the Zumbra Heights Station, on the M. & St. Louis R.R., by Superintendent Haralson and were very soon in the midst of a plat of over 3,000 everbearing strawberry plants all different--some plants with scores of ripe and green berries as well as blossoms, others with few berries and many runners. The superintendent had already made selections and marked some 250 plants for propagation.

In another plat of 1,000 varieties it was very apparent that No. 1017, a cross between Pan-American and Dunlap, was the superior, although others were choice, both as plant makers and fruit-bearers. No doubt many excellent kinds will come from those selected. It certainly was encouraging to be able, even after the heavy frost of a week before, to pick three quarts of large, well ripened berries, a photo of which we obtained on reaching the city and will appear in the Horticulturist.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Field of No. 3 June-bearing strawberries at State Fruit-Breeding Farm.]

Of the June-bearing varieties No. 3, a cross between Senator Dunlap and Pocomoke, would seem to surpa.s.s anything else we saw as to strength of plant and health of foliage. As to its fruiting ability, will refer to the display made at the last summer meeting of the society, which was so much admired. We have no doubt there is a great future for No. 3, as has been for its ill.u.s.trious parent, the Dunlap. Next we went over to the raspberry field containing, it seemed, thousands of strong, straight, healthy plants, which would have to be seen to be appreciated and only then when in fruiting. No. 4 took our special attention. The canes were especially clean, well branched and healthy--a cross between Loudon and King. Many others seem to be very promising.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Everbearing strawberries, No. 1017. Minnesota State Fruit-Breeding Farm. Gathered October 12, 1915.]

Next we were shown a variety of everbearing raspberry from which we indulged in ripe fruit of good size and flavor and which it is hoped will be as valuable as the everbearing strawberry. Of the thousands of everbearing seedlings selections had been made of about 100 which were fine looking plants, well cultivated and free from disease.

We were then shown some hundreds of wild peach seedlings, seedlings of Burbank plums, thousands of hybrid plums of all ages, and a plat of thousands of plum seedlings which will be disposed of to nurserymen this fall and bring a nice income to the state; also wild pears from Manchuria with good prospects of being hardy and free from blight.

We saw a number of nice plum trees, of which the superintendent told us the fruit would color before ripening and would stand long s.h.i.+pments, which so far promise well. Several hundred Beta grape seedlings probably even more hardy than the parent, many crosses in roses which if judged by the foliage must be seen in bloom to be appreciated, seedlings of Compa.s.s cherry crossed with apricot; Compa.s.s cherry crossed with nectarines; seedling currants, over 2,000 from which to select the best.

Over a hundred commercial varieties of apples from East and West, and over 200 varieties of peaches from China and Manchuria, walnuts, b.u.t.ternuts and many dwarf apple trees on Paradise stocks, which fruit early. A good field of corn in shock, for feed for the horses. The old orchard on the place when bought, which had been top-worked to some extent, looked healthy everywhere. The farm seemed to be free from noxious woods, free from pocket gophers or moles and well cultivated, we thought, for the small number of men employed. Machinery and tools were well housed. We were also pleased to be shown through the new home of the superintendent, not yet occupied, which seemed to be complete in all its appointments.

We think the state has a great a.s.set in the farm and recommend that as far as possible members of this society visit it during the coming summer and that the society use its influence with the Board of Regents that more land be procured as soon as possible in order that trial plants may remain longer to more definitely prove their worth and that a greater work may be done for the state. We notice in a report made just six years before, viz., October 12, 1909, by Brothers Wedge, Underwood and the then president of the society, Prof. Green, that even runnerless everbearing strawberries were represented and that they had the usual pleasure of picking strawberry blossoms in October. Had they been with us they would have had a large dish of No. 1017 covered with rich cream and served at the hand of Mrs. Haralson.

Mr. C. S. Harrison: Mr. Chairman, I think the slogan of this society should be "Urbanize the country and ruralize the town." I see tremendous changes going on all the while. Can you think of the possibilities of Minnesota? About 40 per cent of the land under cultivation and that half worked. By and by there is going to be a crop of boys who will raise seventy-five to 100 bushels of corn to the acre where their dads raised twenty-five. You got to keep out of their way, you got to help them along.

Marketing Fruit by a.s.sociation.

A. N. GRAY, MGR. BAY LAKE FRUIT GROWERS' a.s.sN., DEERWOOD.

Marketing fruit or any farm product by a.s.sociation is the modern farmer's insurance of results.

A great deal might be said on this subject, but I shall tell you briefly what the Bay Lake Fruit Growers' a.s.sociation have accomplished.

The first raspberry growing for market at Bay Lake was back in 1886.

Nick Newgard, one of our first settlers, sold quite a few berries that year. Bay Lake is seven miles from Deerwood, the nearest railroad point, and at that time there was only a trail between these places, and it was necessary for Mr. Newgard to pack his berries in on his back. This same method was used in transporting supplies.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Strawberry field on place of A. N. Gray, at Bay Lake.]

Mr. Newgard told me recently that he received a very good profit on his berries the first ten years, but each year the acreage increased and each year the growers' troubles increased in disposing of the crop.

In 1909 there was an unusually large crop and, s.h.i.+pping individually, as we did at that time, it was a case of all s.h.i.+pments going to Duluth one day, flooding the market, then the next day every one s.h.i.+pping to Fargo and flooding that market, and at the end of the season when the growers received their final returns they found that they had received very small pay for their berries.

In the fall of that year the growers around Bay Lake called a meeting to see if some organization could not be formed to handle their berries and look after the collections. The result of this meeting was the incorporation of the Bay Lake Fruit Growers' a.s.sociation.

When the berry season opened in 1910 we had a manager, hired for the season, on a salary, who worked under a board of five managing directors. It was the manager's business to receive the berries at the station, find a market for them, make the collections and settlements with the growers. The result of this first year was so satisfactory to the members that the total members.h.i.+p increased that fall to almost 100.

This new system had eliminated all the worry, and we received a good price for our berries after the expense of our manager had been deducted.

We have just closed our sixth season, which by the way has been a very successful one, as the prices received have been above the average. We now have about 150 members, and we have two s.h.i.+pping stations, Deerwood and Aitkin. We market strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants, gooseberries, plums, Compa.s.s cherries, apples, sweet corn and celery.

We have a nice trade worked up and have little trouble in finding a ready market for any of our products.

It is our aim, as growers, to give our customers all A No. 1 quality.

During the berry season we have an inspector whose duty it is to inspect the berries as they arrive at the station and any found to be of poor quality we dispose of locally for canning. The grower of these berries receives a credit for the amount we realize. In this way we keep the standard of our berries up, and we have very few complaints from our customers on soft berries.

As for losses on bad debts, we have thus far had very few. We usually get a credit rating from the prospective customer's bank and s.h.i.+p to him accordingly. Our old customers file standing orders with us to s.h.i.+p them so many crates each day, and each year brings us new customers who have heard of the fine Bay Lake berries.

In 1912 the a.s.sociation built a potato warehouse at a cost of about $2,500, and we store the members' potatoes for them at a nominal cost.

In 1914 the a.s.sociation decided to put in a stock of flour and feed and keep the manager the year around. Our business in this line has been increasing all the time. It is very interesting to note that over 60 per cent of our flour and feed customers are not members of the a.s.sociation.

We are growing all the time and branching out. A few months ago we added a small stock of hardware and some groceries, and these have taken so well that we would not be at all surprised if eventually we find ourselves in the retail store business.

Evergreens for Both Utility and Ornament.

EARL FERRIS, NURSERYMAN, HAMPTON, IOWA.

As far as horticulture is concerned, the only touch of color on the Northwestern landscape during the coming winter will be furnished by the greens and blues of evergreens.

Did you ever pa.s.s a farm home in the winter that was protected by a good evergreen grove and notice how beautiful it looked? Did you ever stop to think of the difference in temperature that an evergreen grove makes, to say nothing of the contrast in the appearance of the place to that of a home with no grove?

[Ill.u.s.tration: A shelter of old Scotch pine at Mr. Earl Ferris'.]

When I was a small boy I was fortunate enough to be raised on a farm in Butler County, Iowa, that was well protected by a good Norway spruce, white pine and Scotch pine windbreak. The Norway spruce and white pine are still there and if anything better than they were thirty years ago.

At that time my father fed from one to five carloads of stock every winter back of this grove, and I honestly believe that he fed his steers at a cost of from $5 to $15 per steer less than a neighboring feeder who fed out on the open prairie with a few sheds to furnish the only winter protection. I shall never forget the remark a German made who was hauling corn to us one cold winter day. As he drove onto the scales back of this grove, he straightened up and said: "Well, the evergreen grove feels like putting on a fur coat," and I never heard the difference in temperature described any better. Our evergreen grove moved our feeding pens at least 300 miles further south every winter, as far as the cold was concerned.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Thrifty windbreak of Norway spruce at Mr. Earl Ferris'

place, in Hampton, Ia.]

Near Hampton, Iowa, we have three or four of the best stock raisers in the United States. Every one of them is feeding cattle back of a large evergreen grove. In recent years they have divided up some of their large farms into smaller places and made new feeding sheds, and the first improvement that they made on each and every one of these places was an evergreen grove. They buy the best trees that can be obtained that have been transplanted and root pruned, and most of them prefer the Norway spruce in the two to three foot size. After planting, they take as good care of them as they do of any crop on the farm, for they fully realize that cultivation is an all important thing in getting a good evergreen grove started.

Several days ago, I talked with one of these feeders who has time and again topped the Chicago market. He made the remark that the buildings on his farm cost thousands of dollars while his evergreen grove had only cost from $100 to $200, but that he would rather have every building on the place destroyed than to lose that windbreak.

As the price of land and feed increases, the farmers of the Northwest are waking up to the fact that an evergreen grove is an absolute necessity, and that they cannot afford to plant any other. The maple, willow, box elder and other similar trees take so much land that they cannot afford them. They are a windbreak in the summer, but a joke in the winter.

The time is not far distant when every up-to-date farmer in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and other Northwest states will have a good evergreen grove which will be considered as much of a necessity as his barn, house or other outbuildings.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Evergreens adorn old home of Otto Kankel, at Fertile, Minn., in Red River Valley.]