Part 73 (1/2)

So far it would seem that about the only crop which is propagated as.e.xually that is likely to deteriorate, or is capable of improvement, is one that is directly modified by soil and climate.

The potato is the most striking example of this cla.s.s of crops. It is well known that the potato responds very readily in the matter of size, yield and quality to certain types of soil and climatic conditions. It is also known that the qualities thus acquired seem to be more or less permanent; that is, that potatoes brought from the north, especially those which have been grown in heavy soil, will produce a crop some ten days earlier and thirty per cent larger than a crop grown from seed produced in a region six hundred miles farther south. Early Ohio potatoes grown in North Dakota, when used for seed in southern Iowa, give a much larger and somewhat earlier crop than the native grown seed.

This would indicate that the potato is bound to run out in a measure if grown continually in southern lat.i.tudes, and in this instance a change of seed, using always the seed from the northern lat.i.tudes and the heavier soil, is necessary, in order to keep the variety up to standard.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Carnege library and flower beds at N.D. Agricultural College, Fargo.]

It will be seen that while there is no question as to the fact of varieties running out, that they differ a great deal in this respect, and it is only through a knowledge of the facts covering each variety, or at least the varieties of each species, that would enable a grower to know what to do in order to keep a variety up to the highest standard.

Mr. Kellogg: What is the matter with the old Wilson strawberry?

Mr. Waldron: I think people forgot about it and began growing better varieties. I know there is an impression among strawberry growers that the Wilson strawberry has run out. I don't know. I know it has been supplanted by other varieties, and the general impression of most men is that it is because other varieties, better varieties, came in and that variety was neglected.

Mr. Kellogg: It can be found in eastern catalogs now.

Mr. Waldron: Isn't it as good now as it was?

Mr. Kellogg: That is what I want to know.

Mr. Waldron: I understand that it is from the people that have grown them. I don't know of any strawberry in my career from the first time that I have been working in strawberries that seems to be any poorer now than it was twenty-five or thirty years ago. The Wilson might be an exception. I know that has been referred to as an instance of deterioration of variety. The strawberry might be so dependent on climatic and soil conditions that it might be cla.s.sed with the potatoes and not be in a cla.s.s with the apples, which don't seem to deteriorate.

Mr. Kellogg: Is there such a thing as a pedigreed strawberry plant that is taken from runners?

Mr. Waldron: We have experiments going on at the agricultural college now. We set out a number of plants from strawberry growers that advertise a pedigreed strawberry, and beside those we have strawberry plants from growers who don't advertise them as pedigreed. This year we ought to get some returns on that; last year the patch was flooded out--we had very heavy June rains. We have about ten varieties from a large number of different growers, some supposed to be perfect and some not. We are going to have some report of them at the next horticultural meeting. I don't believe there is anything much in pedigreed strawberries.

The President: In the state of North Dakota our friend here who has just spoken occupies the same position in the hearts and minds of the people of his state as do our friends Haralson, Hansen and Patten in this section. His work is along a little different line, his being almost purely an agricultural section, but he is a very practical man and is doing splendid work up there.

Mr. Doty: I wish to say a word on this strawberry question. Some years ago the postmaster at Monticello wanted to know of me what kind of strawberries to set out; I was handling nursery goods at that time. I told him I would recommend to him the Wilson, the Warfield and the Haverland. The Wilson I would set in the center. He had six square rods.

He set them out. The second year he invited me up to his patch and asked me to guess on how many strawberries he had raised on that patch. I said: ”Six bushels”--I thought I would put it high. But he said: ”I have picked twelve bushels from that patch.” I said: ”It can't be possible,”

and he said: ”Come right into my shop here. I have a paper here and I put down every single quart of strawberries that I have sold here.” I figured it up and found that he had twelve bushels out of that patch. I told him to set the Wilson in the center, the Warfield on one side and the Haverland on the other. He did so and that was the result, the best result that I have ever known.

The President: How many years ago?

Mr. Doty: Well, it was about fifteen years ago.

GARDEN HELPS

Conducted by Minnesota Garden Flower Society

Edited by MRS. E. W. GOULD, 2644 Humboldt Avenue So.

Minneapolis.

October is one of the best months in which to plant shrubs. After the leaves show them to be dormant they can be safely moved and will become established before very cold weather.

Each year we are learning that _more_ planting can be done in the fall if done early enough, and by so doing one escapes a part of the rush that comes in the spring. ”Anything that is hardy can be moved in the fall,” an old nurseryman once said to me, and it has been a safe rule to follow. But note the word ”hardy” in his advice. All stock, either shrubbery or perennials, that are planted in the fall should be well mulched.