Bulletin No.

088

Document Type

Bulletin

Department

Department of Horticulture

Description

Over a large area of the prairie northwest, many of the fruits grown in the eastern and southern states are deficient in hardiness. This has been demonstrated by thousands of planters. The climatic extremes of the northwestern prairies do not make fruit culture impossible; but care must be taken in the selection of varieties. The fruit lists adopted by the various state horticultural societies give the general experience with varieties. The beginner should confine his first main planting to the sorts which have stood the test, but often the list is so short that the varieties recommended for trial are needed to fill out the list. There is need of extending the present short list of fruits. Successful fruit culture is essential to true homemaking upon the open prairies, hence the work of originating hardy fruits is of the highest possible importance. It is only in recent years that the immense importance of plant-breeding has become generally recognized. Plant-breeding means the originating of improved varieties by selection, crossing and hybridizing. These are often termed "new creations," and the work corresponds to that of invention in the domain of the mechanical industries. A strictly hardy winter apple, a hardy cherry, or a hardy grape of large size and good quality, would be worth millions of dollars to the prairie northwest.

Keywords

hardy fruits, small fruits, apples, plums, pears, sand cherries, gooseberries

Pages

32

Publication Date

6-1904

Type

text

Format

application/pdf

Language

en

Publisher

South Dakota Agricultural College Experiment Station

Comments

Department of Horticulture

Download

Share

COinS