Part 40

Mr. Record: They raise good asparagus on clay land, but I don't think it will grow as good as on sandy soil. It is not quite so warm; it packs harder and I think more liable to grow crooked.

A Member: I was called out to see a man's asparagus bed. He asked me what kind of ground I thought it must be, and I said a light soil. This man had a heavy clay, and it rained on it, and then the sun came out very hot and the top cooked, and when the little shoots were to come up they turned back. That ground wasn't good for asparagus.

Mr. Record: It should have been harrowed well after that rain.

A Member: You see he couldn't get in there.

A Member: What fertilizer is good? Is bone meal good?

Mr. Record: Any commercial fertilizer is good, I think. Bone meal is good.

Mr. Crawford: Can you raise asparagus successfully in the shade or a partial shade?

Mr. Record: Well, I wouldn't want too much. I have shade on both sides of mine; it is a hedge. I notice it isn't near so good next to the hedge as it is out in the middle of the bed, although shade on both sides protects it from the wind and makes it hotter. The hotter it is, the faster it will grow.

Mr. Crawford: I asked the question because I have a west line shade several years old, trees are willow and box elder. Considerable of the ground is a loss to me, practically so, from that shade.

Mr. Record: I don't think it is a very good place for asparagus.

A Member: I would like to ask if a person on clay soil could use sawdust to work in?

Mr. Record: Horse manure with sawdust, we use a great deal of that, that is, planing mill shavings. That is all right. That will loosen up the ground some, but when it is turned over, of course, it will harden up again if there comes a good hard rain on it.

A Member: How many years have you maintained a bed?

Mr. Record: Why, it will go from twelve to fourteen years, although the place that I am on now, I know that was good for twenty-five or twenty-six. It is practically gone now, but for twenty years it was good. But of late years it won't run over twelve to fifteen.

Mr. Willard: I would like to ask something about changing an old asparagus bed to a new position.

Mr. Record: I wouldn't advise you to use the old roots. You get a bed quicker by using plants that are two years old, and of course there are some plants better than others. I bought my plants in the east. Now they have good plants here, a good many of them, too, but I have never seen anything as good as I got for my last bed. The best way if I was going into it, being a market gardener, would be to go to some neighbor that had a good straight bed and get my own seed. It is very easy to save, and most anyone would give a man all he wanted and charge him nothing. All he would do would be to gather it up.

Mr. Miller: I would like to ask--I only grow for kitchen garden and I presume most of us are in the same boat--we were told to plow a furrow deeply and fill it with good manure and to plant the roots with the crowns about four inches below the surface of the bed.

Mr Record: Well, I wouldn't fertilize it first. I would, as I say, plow my furrow and loosen up the bottom of it, so that the plants will get a chance to get started. You know if you are plowing it out or shoveling it out it will get down to hard ground. That isn't so good. You loosen up the bottom and put your plants evenly over the ground and put in a little dirt, and if you have it a little barnyard manure.

Mr. Miller: I suppose the idea of putting that in the bottom is that it is so hard to cultivate the manure on the top without doing as you mentioned?

The Running Out of Varieties.

PROF. C. B. WALDRON, HORTICULTURIST, AGRI. COLLEGE, N.D.

There is no fact more familiar to gardeners, orchardists and farmers than the "running out" of varieties, and no question that is more obscure as to its causes. The possibility of deterioration of varieties is noted to a greater or less extent in all field and garden crops, particularly with those that are most highly developed, or which represent the greatest departure from the original species.

It is evident that the cause must lie either in the environment which surrounds the variety or in the selection which it has received, or in a combination of the two. It is held also by some that aside from the influence of soil and climate, and in spite of the most rigid selection, there is an inherent tendency in varieties to depart in a more or less marked degree from the type in which they first appeared. This is particularly true of new varieties that have not yet become established. Almost before the plant breeder can determine their type they have broken up into so many distinct forms that it is impossible to get any further than the first generation.

This has been noted several times with new varieties of squashes and other cucurbits, and to a similar but less marked degree with tomatoes and some other garden crops. These might well be termed evanescent varieties, and since they never become fixed or find their way into cultivation they are of interest only to the plant breeder.

The influence of environment, particularly soil and climate, upon the size, quality and productiveness of certain garden crops is well known, though just what effect this may have in determining the hereditary character of a variety has never been very well worked out and is still a matter of much doubt. We know, for instance, that there is a tendency for corn grown in the middle or southern latitude to attain to a larger size and require a longer period for maturity than the same corn grown in the north. This tendency is shown in the first generation, but whether it appears as a constant hereditary character or not is still open to discussion.

There are those who maintain that it is just as practical to develop a dwarf, early variety of corn in the middle latitudes with careful selection as it is to develop a variety of equal earliness when the planting is done in the north. These maintain that the reason the dwarf, early varieties of corn are not normally developed in the middle latitudes is because the selection in those places is usually made from the large plants which yield well, instead of from the small, early plants, such as would be naturally selected at the north.

By the same reasoning it is held that the constant growing of any species or variety in the northern latitudes does not increase hardiness but only enables us to determine which is hardy, thereby enabling us by selection to increase the hardiness of our varieties.

We must admit that this reasoning has a sound scientific basis, its principal weakness at the present time being that there has not been enough experimental work done to determine how general and constant its application is.

However true it may be as a scientific principle, we have on the other hand the undoubted fact that varieties of certain plants, like the cauliflower, are so strongly modified by environment that the varieties disappear altogether as such unless the breeding plants are grown under very definite conditions. It is well known that cauliflower seed can be grown, for instance, only in certain parts of Europe around the North Sea and to a limited extent in the vicinity of Seattle, and that cauliflower seed from any other region produces plants which not only lose all varietal characteristics but which scarcely resemble cauliflower at all.

As an illustration of this same principle millet affords an excellent example. Grown at the north for a number of years, without change of seed, it becomes short with stiff straw and very large heads, yielding a large quantity of seed. When grown as far south as Tennessee for a period of five years only, it assumes a very different character, being tall and leafy with small heads and not very productive of seed. It might be possible by very rigid selection to develop a variety of millet that would tend to be tall and leafy even in the north, but it is doubtful if it would remain so, and the difficulty of keeping it up to type would be too great to make it profitable.

All this is equivalent to saying that there are certain unstable varieties that are so influenced by climate that it is not good practice to try and keep them up to any given standard except when they are grown in regions which naturally develop the type that we are seeking to maintain.

The more striking examples coming under this class are cauliflower, millet, onions, tobacco and some of the flowering plants.

A few years ago it was supposed that the running out of varieties of celery was due to a similar cause, that is, to unfavorable environment. To this was ascribed the pithy quality that characterized some of the varieties. Upon further investigations, however, it was found that this pithy condition came about through carelessness in seed selection. There is a more or less inherent tendency in all celery to become pithy, and unless these plants are carefully excluded, the varieties will run out from that cause.

The different varieties of tomatoes, egg plant and the cucurbits do not seem to be especially affected by soil and climate, and in such instances the varieties can be kept up only by rigid selection, no matter how favorable that environment is under which they are grown. 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 asexually, 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 asexually propagated varieties may be considered almost fixed or permanent.

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 asexually 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 class 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 latitudes, and in this instance a change of seed, using always the seed from the northern latitudes and the heavier soil, is necessary, in order to keep the variety up to standard.

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 classed with the potatoes and not be in a class 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 grass 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. Massey, of the New York State College of Agriculture, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.

By co-operating with Dr. Massey 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. Massey. 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.

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.

About the first thing I can remember, as I look back over the years that are past, is my father's field of peonies, and of a man standing at a table with a large peony clump before him cutting it up into divisions. I remember wondering how such beautiful flowers could come out of such an ugly, dirty root. The bright little eyes, some red, some white and others pink interested me, and boy fashion I put many questions to the man about them. And then my father came by and noticing my interest in the matter, though a busy man, stopped and explained to me the process of dividing the roots.

That was forty years ago, but from that day to this I have watched with ever increasing interest the growth and handling of peonies. I was but a small boy then, but I remember my father gave me his big pruning knife, and under his guidance I divided my first peony. And I thought I had done fairly well, for he patted me on the head and said it was well done and that some day I would make a nurseryman.

The peony industry as far as the West was concerned was in its infancy then. We had few varieties--peony buyers had not yet become critical. I can remember of but four sorts: the white variety, Whitleyii, now called Queen Victoria; the red Pottsii and the two pinks, Fragrans and Humeii. Peonies were then sold as red peonies, white peonies and pink peonies, and that was all there was to it, and the customer felt very lucky if he got the color he ordered.

But a wonderful change came over the industry along in the nineties. Some of the better varieties had worked west in different ways, and people began to waken to the fact that there were more than simply red peonies, white peonies and pink peonies. Such varieties as Festiva Maxima, Edulis Superba, Marie Lemoine, Eugene Verdier and the like came to us. Flower lovers slowly began to realize that the old, despised "piny" of mother's garden was a thing of the past, and that here in its stead we had a glorious and beautiful flower. And as the better varieties have continued to come from year to year, the interest in the flower has continued to increase until now I think I am safe in saying that in the colder portion of our country at least, and in our own state in particular, the interest manifested in the peony is greater than that taken in any other flower.

And it is of this modern peony that I am asked to tell you--of its cultivation and care, how it is multiplied and how the new sorts are produced.

Right here at the start I wish to correct an erroneous impression about the peony that has been spread broadcast throughout the land by means of not too carefully edited catalogues and misinformed salesmen.

We often hear an agent say or we read in some catalogue, "When you have the peony planted all is done." Now this is not true. It comes a long ways from being true. I think the very results which the following out of this belief have brought about are accountable for the production of more poor peonies than all other causes put together. The peony, it is true, will stand more abuse than any other flower you can name and still give fairly good results, but if you want good peonies you must take good care of them.