The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1856-04-12
Fruit Trees In Minnesota.


Mr.. Ford, of the Groveland Nursery, sen,
us the following. 1t appears we were som
what hasty in stating that this Nursery ha
not suffered SO badly during the late e,
treme winter, in the way of losing pea
plum and cherry trees, as did the nurserie
in the States South and East of US. But
appears from Mr.. Ford's own statement tha
the apples are all right; and in this we ar
just as well off as our neighbors of Illinois
Iowa, Wisconsin, &C.
For the Ninneso,ian.
| MEssRs. EDIroRs Your statements il
| the Minnesotian of last week are calculated
to convey wrong impression in regard t.
the fruit trees in our nurseries, and having
pledged myself in the Pioneer some thres
years since, TO "report progress" in the way
of tree culture in Minnesota, / feel called up
on to make few corrections in your arti-
Gle.
After careful examination Of the various
kinds of trees in our nurseries we find the
greater part of the Pears, Plums and Cher
ries killed to the snow line. Pears and
Plums have never before been injured in the
least, but the past winter has effected them
'i1ite differently from any previous year.
W. are surprised from the fact that we lad
cometo the conclusion that they were far
more hardy than the apple. Besides the
plum thri>es so we'll in this latitude east, we
thought thele could not be better country
for it's profitable culture, than this, especially
as the wild plnu does so well and is not
troubled by the Ncurculio. Some kinds Of
the cherry are not dfected in the least while
others are entirely killed.
Our apple trees, particularly, those Sro'0n
here, are not much injured, except a few ten
der kinds. This is ceitainly gratifying, for
we have no reason now to believe that apple
trees will not flourish here and as this fruit
is worth all others combined, as far as utili-
ty is concerned, we have but little cause to
complain Of our prospect for raising our own
apples.
We will have to "wait little longer'' be-
fore we shall be able to feast upon rich Bart
lettes and Seckles, but in the way of plums
we have very good substitutes in the wild
varieties that grow SO luxuriant'y in various
parts of the Territory. Of cherries we must
plant largely of the few hardy kinds we have
left. At present we would advise everybody
to plant largel5%of 4appics, Currants, Goose
berries, Straw berries and Pie Plant. All
thc latter come into bearing soon, and are in
dispensable Besides they are very good,
Strawberries and cream" In our
opinion, Rhubarb, too, makes pie equal to
any thing in the fruit line.
From what we have said we hope it will
not be inferred that we cannot raise Pears
or Plums in Minnesota, or that this is our
opinion. These trees we learn are killed,
generally, in the West, but they may not be
again in fifty years. If they raise these
fruits again below we are of opinion they will
be grown in Minnesota, from the fact that
heretofore the trees have not been injured in
the least. We have few Pears of certain
varieties left that look as though we might
get little fruit from them this season.
We would here state that we cannot fill
any orders this season for Pears or Plums,
but we can supply all our customers with
apples and the smaller fruits. Of apples, we
have, probably, 10000 trees that are not in
jured for transplanting, most of which have
been grown here and at the St. Paul Nurse
ry which we purchased last fall Of Messrs.
Merrifield and Newton:
In the course Of few weeks we shall be
able to tell precisely how all kinds of trees
are affected, and the varieties of each that
have proved hardy enough for the past hard
winter Of course we shall let the public
know how the matter stands then, as far as
our trees are concerned and what we can
learn from other parts of the west.
l.. M. FORD.
Groveland Garden and Nursery, April 5.