The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-12-02
SUGGESTION THAT IRRIGATION
WOULD BE OF GREAT AID TO
GROWTH.
SECRETARIES
THE
ANNUAL.
building on the State Fair
Grounds.


went away feeling that they did not
know all about strawberries. then they
did not pay very close attention
The first thing of the afternoon was
| to hear the report of A M. Shepard, of
the small fruits committee. Prof. n. E.
Hansen, of the Bookings Agricultural
College of South Dakota, was to have
read paper, but as it had more to do
with the subject of apples and plums
it was postponed until those fruits were
to be taken up.
The regular programme was opened
with paper by Mrs. Anna B. Under
wood. Her subject was THE Nimble
Sixpence and How to Corral Him in a
Strawberry Bed" This had been pro
posed by Mr.. Wedge, and the task of
answering was given to Mrs. Under
wood. She succeeded in showing that
the subject contained considerable
argument and that it was possible to
corral him, but she refused to state
how many she had corraled in her
strawberry bed.
Following came a series of five-min-
ute papers on the different branches of
strawberry growing. A paper by w.
5. Widmoyer, Of Dresbach treated
1.-THE Best Three Varieties to Grow for
the Market His selection Of the
warfield, crescent and beder wood was
generally accepted, although some of
the growers differed according to the
kind of soil they had. People from all
parts Of the state gave their opinions
and this was the manner of the dis
cusslon on all the subjects. Following
the best three for the market came the
best for home use, including those for
canning. The gentlemen discussed this
question of canning at considerable
10 ~
anything, but sitting back and smiling.
Finally some wag asked how many
men present had ever canned berries.
A heavy silence followed the question
only broken by the stifed laughter of
the ladies' It was a good joke. After
that the ladies told the men a few
things about the canning question and
settled the matter.
Soils Best Adapted for Strawber-
ries' was the next paper. 1t was pre-
pared by O. M. Lord, Of Minnesota
City. This brought a very great va
riety of opinion and contradictions
were frequent. The discussion plainly
proved that what was good for one
would not do for another. Some want
/ ed sandy loan, while others thought
a heavy soil or a graVelly clay was
the proper thing. The question of slope
also varied. Some wanted southeast
while others would have only north
east.
1.-The Preparation of the Soil" caused
the longest discussion. All were agreed
that wood ashes, unleached, was a
good thing. Mrs. BonniWell, of Hutch
ison, who was introduced as the best
farmer in that country, gave her eX-
perience, bringing up the wood ashes
| question. 1t was thought by the ma
| jority that moisture and enough
manure to allow hard packing around
| the roots of the plant was the right
method.
Planting" Cultivation, "Irriga-
tom and 'Mulching'' were four papers
| discussed somewhat at length and
mingled with one another In discus
sing the planting a practical demon
stration was used. c. f. Gardner was
asked how he would plant the straw
! berries and his answer was nearer to
the point than any. He said, heads
up, roots down." When asked what he
I would do with 5000 plants in a dry
| season, he answered that he would be
very sorry that he had ordered such
! a number.
The last paper was read by c. w.
Sampson, of Eureka, and was on
Gathering and Selling the Crop" He
followed the subject through the en-
| ployment of pickerS, methods of pick
ing. ways of shipping, kinds of market
method Of reaching the market and
time to reach it. He had a few don'ts
which he asked the members to con-
slider One of them was Don't put
bad soft or over ripe berries at the
bottom of the box and good ones on
top. Let the quality be as good at the
bottom as the top" Mr.. Sampson
said that he did not think it was the
| practice to do this, but he had seeen II
| charged to the fruit men and he want
ed to caution the members from bring
ing the growers into bad repute. The
Il h oY-T~i11 ont
The session was declared by all to
have been an excellent one and 1T GER
tainly was if argument and discussion
is the standard. 1t proved that straw
berry growing was not such an easy
| thing after all and that 1T was de-
serving of a place among the sciences
Good corn soil was discussed at the
morning session.
EVENING SESSION.
The evening session was given over in part
to the official business of the meeting. The
reports of the president, of the executive conf
mittee and the secretary were received, and
| the last half of the session was taken up in
reading and discussing several papers OF
I general interest.
.'In the city and village very many could
| add to the pleasure and comfort of their
surroundings by interesting themselves in
the work of our society and learning the
way to plant and care for the many beauti-
full and useful flowers and vegetables that
can be grown on a town lot said President
| j. M. Underwood in his annual address. The
park-like appearance made by the removal
| of fences has done very much to bring this
about. Isolation naturally engenders carr
lessness and tends to make a person slovenly
in his habits. Contact with society spruces
one up and makes him appear at his best
If you remove your fences you naturally fee
that you are parade and must appear al
your best. This has been the result in the
town where l live and was brought about by
contact with the horticultural spirit of the
members Of this society,".
This was followed up by suggestion fol
irrigation in Minnesota, saying that during
tha last wear the strawberry crop was nearly
ruined by the lack Of water, which might
have been supplied by using some Of the
available water supply: lie reeomnie.lied
that the society instruct its legislative com
mittee to secure the passage of a law fer the
promotion of irrigation at the coming session
of the legislature.
He called attention to the useless waste Of
lands in all the farming communities Gu ac-
count of the wide roadways ana pointed ~
that in county the size Of Wabasha, with
eighteen townships, there are 5000 acres Of
roadway worse than wasted because they are
| prolific ground for the growing of weeds
This land is worth at least $4,000 and on the
score that the land is wasted in a state the
size of Minnesota the land would be worth
SIS, 109, $50.
mittee was read by the chairman, Aid Wymar
| Elliot of Minneapolis. 1t was largely in re-
Iation to the state fair, and the principal
| feature, perhaps, was a suggestion for hor-
| ticultural building at the state fair, with
| plans drawn by local architect.
! The annual report of the secretary, A. w
Latham, of Minneapolis was filled with in
teresting facts showing the steady growth
| of the society from very small beginnings
| The membership roll has increased from
very few twenty -four years ago to nearly 50(
today One of the main features of the So
ciety each year has been its lists of fruits
| which could be recommended to be grown
in Minnesota. The an8ual displays at the