Trees, Fruits and Flowers of Minnesota, 1916 - Various

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Member: We have a great deal of trouble with that. How do you get these bushy bushes to lie down?

      Mr. Johnson: I take three or four canes, and kind of twist them, give them a little twist, and lay them flat on the ground.

      Mr. Anderson: Don't you take out any dirt on the sides?

      Mr. Johnson: No, sir; sometimes I might put a shovel of ground against them to bend the canes over.

      Mr. Rogers: Do you plant in the hedge row or in the hill system?

      Mr. Johnson: In the hedge row. I think it is better because they protect one another.

      Mr. Ludlow: How far do you put them apart in the hedge row?

      Mr. Johnson: Four feet. That is the trouble with the King, if you don't keep them down, your rows will get too wide.

      A Member: I heard you say a while ago you covered these. Do you plow them after you get them down or do you cover them with a shovel?

      Mr. Johnson: I cover mostly with a shovel. Sometimes I take a small plow through.

      A Member: Don't you think in covering them with a plow you might disturb the roots?

      Mr. Johnson: That is the danger.

      A Member: I saw a fellow covering up twelve acres of black caps and he plowed them shut. After I heard what you said I thought maybe that he was injuring his roots.

      Mr. Johnson: You know the black cap has a different root system from the reds. The roots of the reds will run out all over the road.

      Mr. Willard: How thick do you leave those canes set apart in the row, how many in a foot?

      Mr. Johnson: I generally try to leave them in hills four feet apart, not let them come in any between. About three or four in a hill. I generally try to cut out the weak ones.

      Mr. Willard: You pinch the end of the tops, I think?

      Mr. Johnson: Yes, sir.

      A Member: When do you cut those sucker canes?

      Mr. Johnson: I generally hoe them just before picking time and loosen the ground in the row. That is very important, to give them a hoeing, not hoe down deep, but just loosen that hard crust there and cut all the plants that you don't want, and then generally, after the berries commence to ripen, your suckers don't come so fast, and you keep on cultivating once in a while.

      Mr. Brackett: I have some King raspberries, and I never covered them up in ten years. I will change that. The first year I did cover a part of my patch, at least one-half of them, and that left the other half standing, and I couldn't see any difference. Around Excelsior there are very few people that cover up the King raspberry. But the King raspberry has run out; all of the old varieties have run out. We have at our experiment station the No. 4—you can get double the amount of fruit from the No. 4 than from the King. The best way to grow the King raspberry or any other raspberry is to set them four feet apart and cultivate them. If you grow a matted row you are bound to get weeds and grass in there, you are bound to get them ridged up, but by planting in hills and cultivating each way you can keep your ground perfectly level. As far as clipping them back my experience has been it is very hard to handle them—they will spread out. It is a big job to cover the plants and then to uncover them again. I know it is not necessary with the No. 4; that is hardy. That is what we want. Hardiness is what we want in a berry, and you have it in the No. 4.

      Mr. Hall: I would like to ask you what you spray with and when you spray?

      Mr. Johnson: The bordeaux mixture. I spray them early in the spring and just before they start to ripen.

      Mr. Wick: With us the Loudon raspberry seems to be the coming raspberry.

      Mr. Johnson: Is it doing well now?

      Mr. Wick: Yes, it is doing well.

      Mr. Ludlow: How many years is the planting of the King raspberry good for?

      Mr. Johnson: I think it would be good for fifteen years or more if they are handled as I do it. Keep at the plant, hoeing and spraying them twice a year; trim out the old wood and keep them healthy.

      The President: You take out all the old wood every year?

      Mr. Johnson: Yes, sir.

      Mr. Ludlow: When do you do that?

      Mr. Johnson: In the fall. I figure this way, every extra cane that you grow on the plant is a waste. If I see a cane a little higher than the others I just stop it, and it throws the sap back.

      Mr. Berry: Do you fertilize and how and when?

      Mr. Johnson: I found I didn't need much fertilizer. I put on wood ashes and such things when I burn the trimming of the berries and such things.

      A Member: When do you spray?

      Mr. Johnson: I generally spray in the spring after they get started and just before they are starting to ripen. I spray them sometimes when they are starting to ripen, and the berries would pick up in one day.

      A Member: You mean to say you could grow them for fifteen years without fertilizing?

      Mr. Johnson: Yes, sir.

      Knowledge of the temperature of the pantry and cellar is important, in order that one may make improvements in conditions. Putrefaction will start at 50°, so that a pantry or closet where food is kept should have a temperature at least as low as that. Cellars where canned goods are stored should have a temperature of 32° or over. Apples are frequently stored in outside cellars, where the temperature should be kept at 31° or 32°; but apples may be kept satisfactorily at 34° or 36°. When stored at the higher temperatures, the fruit should be placed there soon after being picked.

       Table of Contents

       Table of Contents

      We would say that the station is in good condition; all trees and shrubbery have done well; no complaint as far as growth is concerned. This being an off year for fruit in this section, the fruit crop in general was light, the late frost and heavy rains destroying most all, both wild and tame fruits.

      The strawberries, raspberries and currants were fairly good; plums and apples were very light, except some seedlings, both apples and plums, which seemed to hold their fruit. Most all the large apples were destroyed by the freeze, such as Duchess, Wealthy, Greening and Hibernal. There were some of the Duchess seedlings that seemed to stand all kinds of freezing.

      Jas. Arrowood in his trial orchard, at Nevis, in Northern Minnesota. Jas. Arrowood in his trial orchard, at Nevis, in Northern Minnesota.

      Now in regard to the fruits that were sent here from Central station. The majority are doing fairly well, especially in regard to strawberry No. 3, which is doing splendidly and points to be the coming strawberry of northern Minnesota. It is a good runner and has a large, dark foliage. Plants that we left out last winter without covering came through in splendid condition and made a heavy crop. In regard to the fruit, it is of the best quality, large and firm and a good keeper. In regard to raspberries, Nos. 1, 4 and 7 did very well, and stood the winter without laying down, and bore a good crop.

      In regard to the eighteen plum trees I received three years ago, Nos. 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 12 have done very well and have made a good growth, but have had no fruit so far.

      The sand cherry that was received the same year, No. 2, has done very well and bore some fruit this last year of a fair quality.

      Hansen

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