Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-01-18
Horticultural Meeting.

| meeting. B. s. HoXie, secretary of the
State Horticultural Society, gave a very
interesting talk on "Fruit Growing in
Wisconsin. He said that the idea has
been prevalent that Wisconsin cannot
grow apples, but our fine exhibit at the
World's'Fair had disproved this idea.
L. H. Read read the following paper
entitled:
| CAN WE GROW FRUIT IN WOOD COUNTY?
MY answer TO the above question
would be an emphatic Yes, but it is a
well known fact that most people are
not satisfied with direct answer but
require to know all the reasons why
you have arrived at any decided point
of view And so I will state some of
the reasons that I have come to such
| conclusion and [ feel certain when you
have heard me through that some of
you at least Will agree with me in the
conclusion | have arrived at.
1st. [ firmly believe what others
have done under like conditions and
| circumstances we can do here. At
| Waupaca, only about 40 miles from here
| and subject to the same climate as we
are, they have no trouble to grow fruit.
One man has 1900 Apple trees in
bearing and nearly as many more lately
| set out. And many others are e'also
growing apples in smaller. quantities,
| and small fruits are grown in great
abundance. AT Sparta, so miles south
west Of us, they grow hundreds of acres
of small fruit of all kinds and it brings
thousands of dollars into the place each
year. At Eau Claire large quantities of
| fruit are grown. Now these last two
places are in a section of the state
where it gets colder than it does here,
so if it is cold weather we have to fear
why don't it effect them as WELL 1t
| seems to me that if they can grow fruit
all around us and In places where it
gets much colder than it does here we
certainly cannot claim that our climate
is too severe and we must come to the
conclusion that if our soil is equally
adapted to fruit growing there is no
reason why we cannot grow fruits if we
| plant varieties which are adapted and
give them the necessary care.
End. We will look to the matter of
soil, on which we will not need to dwell
long as you are all aware of the fact
that this central section of the state,
extending westward from Green Bay to
the Mississippi River is largely COM
posed of the best soil in the world for
the growing of small fruits, especially
| our sandy soil is without an equal
anywhere. No one will dispute the fact
that sandy soil. if well supplied with
water, is much better adapted to with
stand our severe Wisconsin drouths
| than any other soil known, and when
| we have a good supply of water within
to feet Of the surface, as we have in
| this locality, 1t seems to me that the
| water supply is all that can be required.
This leaves only two questions left to
consider-adapted varieties and intelli-
gent cultivation.
I believe that the greatest reason that
so many believe that they cannot grow
fruit here is that they have used but
very little intelligence in buying stock
and caring for the same. If you were
to pay $500 for Jersey COW you would
require the M you bought her of to
give her pedigI ee, and you would not
| allow him to deliver a scrub animal
without any Jersey blood in her to you,
and after you had bought her and
! knew she was just as represented, you
| would not winter her on the sunny
side of strawstack and expect her to
yield you 3 pounds of butter per day.
But you would take good care of her,
giving her warm, comfortable shelter
ami good food, and then you could
expect a fair return for your money
and labor. Now many people buy
their nursery stock of some travelling
fraud whom they never saw before and
never expect TO see again, some man
who may claim to represent a nursery
where there is none and never has been,
| like the man who was taking orders
here last summer claiming to represent
a certain large firm at Madison, Wis,
and upon inquiry | found that no firm
| by the name were known there at all
| Then they pay from to 5 times as
much to such swindlers as they would
| have to pay to reliable dealers for GOOD
trees and plants. 1t is no more use to
try to grow the tender varieties which
are grown in the East and South in this
latitude than it would be to hang silver
dollars on our garden fences and expect
that they would hang there over night
without somebody helping themselves
! to them.
But there is few ironclad varieties
of apples that we can grow here if we
only take proper care of them. With
such varieties as Wolf River, McMahon
and Northwestern Greening, ali natives
of this state; and Wealthy, a hardy
Seeding from Minnesota, and a few of
the hardest of the Russians like
Duchess of Oldenburg, Tetofsky and
! Hibernal, all of which are very hardy
and have been we'll tested in all parts
! Of this state, we certainly can find
those varieties which will supply us in
fruit from summer until they grow
/ L