With these plants there is always the inherent tendency to go back more or less to the wild state, and lapse of care in seed selection for a period of only a few years will result in a variety very different from the one which we had in the beginning.

It will be seen from this that in some instances the best plan is for each farmer or gardener to develop his own strains of crops that he grows, while in other cases it is best to leave the selection to those that are working in a more favored environment so far as those varieties are concerned.

There still remains to be considered the plants that are propagated as.e.xually, like potatoes and all our cultivated fruits. From the fact that a number of our standard varieties of apples and some other fruits date back one hundred years or more, and are still as productive as at the beginning, it is evident that some as.e.xually propagated varieties may be considered almost fixed or permanent.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Niobe willow (Salix vitellina, var. pendula nova), on campus N.D. Agri. College, Fargo.]

The buds or scions from which new trees are started are taken indiscriminately from the bearing trees, and since there is no great variation in them the varieties do not tend to change. Whether they could be improved by taking scions from only the most productive trees is still a question. There are some who consider this possible, but we do not yet have enough experimental evidence to establish it as a fact.

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.

The bulbs for the spring garden, except those that require early planting, will also need to be put in this month in order to make a good root growth before frost overtakes them. Here we are able to achieve exact results as they very seldom disappoint us as to color or time of blooming as some other plants do.

Have you tried planting your bulbs with any of the ground cover plants that will take away the bare look that most bulb beds have? The arabis with its snowy blossoms is beautiful beneath the early tulips. The violas--with such a wide range of color--make lovely backgrounds for the later tulips, as also do the creeping phlox and the native lavender blue divaricata phlox. A bed of this beneath pale pink Darwin tulips is one of the lovely memories of last spring's garden.

Another snowy white flower is the perennial candytuft, Iberis. Blooming at the same time and remaining lovely for a long period it combines well with any of the tall tulips or narcissi or daffodils. Alyssum saxatile, with its sheet of gold, and the dear forget-me-nots, both grow well beneath the tulips. The fine lacey tufts of meadow rue are lovely among the pink and white and rose tulips. Surely the bulb beds need not be bare.

The very early blossoms are always the most welcome. So plant some bulbs, at least twenty-five, of scillas, snowdrops, snowflakes (Leucojum vernum). These, if left undisturbed, will increase greatly. The chionodoxas, grape hyacinths and crocuses are all well worth planting, but do not put the latter in the gra.s.s as they will not do well there in our climate.

FOR OUR ROSE GROWERS.

Members of the American Rose Society have been raising money to employ a trained plant pathologist to study diseases of roses. The work has been begun under Dr. L. M. Ma.s.sey, of the New York State College of Agriculture, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.

By co-operating with Dr. Ma.s.sey all growers of roses will greatly increase the efficiency of the investigations. A rose disease survey will first be made. It is here that all rose growers can help by sending specimens of diseased plants, with a statement regarding varieties affected, nature and extent of the injury, time of appearance of the disease and any other things that have been noticed regarding it.

Information for the control of the disease will be given by Dr. Ma.s.sey.

The following directions are given to those sending specimens:

"The material sent should be freshly collected and should show various stages of the development of the disease. Where roots are sent it will usually be undesirable to enclose any soil. Where convenient specimens should be mailed so as to reach Ithaca the latter part of the week.

Place leaves, buds, etc., between the leaves of an old newspaper, a few between each two sheets. Then roll into a tight bundle and wrap in stout paper. Attach one of the franked tags (which may be had upon request), on which you have written your name and address, and mail. It will go postage free--H.H. Whetzel, Head of the Department of Plant Pathology, New York State College of Agriculture, Cornell University, Ithaca."

Meeting of Garden Flower Society, St. Paul, Wilder building, 2:30 p.m., October 19. Topics: "How I Made My Garden Pay" and "Work of Garden Clubs." Reports of seed trials.

[Ill.u.s.tration: DISTANT VIEW OF A FIELD OF THREE YEAR OLD SEEDLING PEONIES ON THE GROUNDS OF BRAND NURSERY CO., AT FARIBAULT, MINN.]

While it is not the intention to publish anything in this magazine that is misleading or unreliable, yet it must be remembered that the articles published herein recite the experience and opinions of their writers, and this fact must always be noted in estimating their practical value.

THE MINNESOTA HORTICULTURIST

Vol. 44 NOVEMBER, 1916 No. 11

Peonies--Old and New.

A.M. BRAND, NURSERYMAN, FARIBAULT.