Fillmore County, Minnesota - Chapter 15: Fillmore County Horticulture, 1912

Chapter 15: Fillmore County Horticulture

Native Fruits Found by the Early Settlers - The First Nursery - Growth of Horticultural Interest Throughout the County - Conditions at the Present Time - Two Hundred Thousand Apple Trees Soon coming to Fruit - Fillmore County Horticultural Society - Southern Minnesota Horticultural Society - KEdited by 0. W. Moore.

When the early settlers arrived in Fillmore county the wild plum trees were seen everywhere. The crabapple was also plentiful, and in places could be found the luscious wild strawberry. The wild grapevine was a common sight, and the wild gooseberry abounded in considerable quantity. After the forest trees were cut off and the prairie fires eurbed the blaekberry and the raspberry came in.

In the way of nuts, the hazel flourished throughout the county, the butternut grew here and there, and in some places the hiekory and walnut could be found. In several viecinities there were groves of maple, yielding many pounds of sugar.

But in spite of the lavishness of nature in the way of fruits, nuts and berries, the domestic propagation of these products has heen accompanied by many difficulties, and only in recent years has the cultivation of fruit and herries become an inportant part. of Fillmore county's wealth.

In the spring of 1834 W. J. Howell emigrated from the state of New York to the territory of Minnesota and bought a eclaim - right to the south half of seetion 10, township 101, range 9 - of James Kelly. Kelly was a ''squatter land shark'' in southeastern Fillmore county who, in 1853, had claimed a large traet of rich bottom Jand and the best part of the farming land and timber traets along the creeks in that locality, which he was dividing up and selling to the newcomers arriving in the territory, charging them fabulous prices for the privilege of settling 'ou a portion of the land he had elaimed as his possessions. In May, 1854, Kelly, having sold the remainder of his entire elaim holdings to W. J. Howell, removed to another new eguntry, where he could again continue to do a like business in fleecing the "'tenderfoots.'' After the ''land shark'? had vaeated the log cabin on the claim bought by W. J. Howell (a widower) permission was given another land shark victim of the spring of 1854, named Silas Pennoek, to move his family imto this house until such time as he had erected a house on his own claim, which, adjoined the W. J. Howell claim.

In the fall of 1854 W. J. Howell decided to engage in the business of propagating and growing fruit trees. He prepared the ground for the planting in the spring of 1855, and proposed to his brother, Elihu Howell, who resided in the state of New York, that he come West and go in partnership with him in the nursery business, telling him if he should decide in the affirmative to ship in the early spring of 1855 several thousand root grafts of good standard varieties of fruit. To this his brother acceeded. This, the first nursery started in Fillmore county, was on the east half of the southeast quarter of section 10, town 101, range 9, being about three-fourths of a mile southwest of where Lenora is now located. It was called the ''Grafton Nursery.'' The stock for the planting of this nursery was shipped from New York state to Brownsville, Minn., by Elihu Howell in the first part of May, 1855, and consisted of 53,000 root grafts and 1,500 standard apple trees. Elihu Howell, while on his way to the territory of Minnesota, made the acquaintance at Rockford, Ml., of Lyman G. Stevens, a young man of eighteen summers, who had left the state of New Hampshire for the Western country. He agreed to accompany Elihu Howell to Minnesota and to assist in planting and caring for his nursery stock. On arriving at Brownsville Elihu Howell was taken ill with Asiatic cholera and died, being buried at Brownsville in May, 1855. Lyman G. Stevens aecompanied the shipment of nursery stock from Brownsville to the farm of W. J. Howell, on Richland prairie, this county, and assisted in planting the root grafts and trees on bottom land in section 10, town 101, range 9, in May, 1855.

In the spring of 1856, and also in 1858, several thousand nore root grafts were planted on upland clay soil as an experiment, in the belief that the temperature in the winter time, which froze the tops of the young trees every winter down to the snow line, would not go as low on the high land as on the bottom land. The first fruit trees planted on the farm of William Willford, the writer, were procured from the Grafton Nursery in the spring of 1859, and were of the following varieties: Red Astrachan, Benoni, Saps of Wine, Strawberry, Perry Russett and Fameuse. The trees were planted on clay soil on a northeast slope of a hill, and this has proven by later expericnee to be the most ideal situation for an orchard in Fillmore county,

The young trees did quite well after planting and fruited well for a few years, and then died. Lyman G. Stevens remained on the Howell farm, assisting in the planting and caring for the nursery until the early sixties, when the proprietor decided to abandon the business as a 'dead failure."'

A description of Fillmore county, published in 1858, mentions the Grafton Nursery as having twenty thousand grafted apple trees. The same pamphlet also mentions the nursery of Doyle & Underwood and that of Sauer & Brothers, the former ealled the Minnesota Nursery and the latter the Fillmore Nursery. Of these nurseries the publication of 1858 says:

'The Minnesota Nursery is ou section 30, township 102, range 9, near the village of Henry. The location is a good one and the grounds neatly kept. The nursery has about twenty thousand grafts of 1856, which are thrifty and of the most approved varieties of apples; also fifty thousand one year old seedlings; and a choice assortment of pears, cherries, currants and the like.

'""The Fillmore Nursery is in the Root river valley, about a mile southeast of Chatfield. It is well arranged and contains a great variety of fruit trees, ornamental shrubbery, currants, gooseberries, strawberries and the like. It contains over one hundred thousand grafted trees, all grown here from the seed, and that ean hardly fail to thrive.''

A nursery was started by Barnett Taylor at Forestville in 1856. He disposed of some small fruit plants as early as the year 1858, and began selling apple and crab trees in the early sixties. Another nursery in the county was started by C. R. Morgan at Forestville in 1882, later taking over the Taylor business. This nursery was carried on for many years and supplied fruit trees and small fruit plants to the farmers of the county. This nursery was discontinued some years ago.

The most extensive nursery undertaking in the county was started by C. E. Snyder in the year 1891. Mr. Snyder has been instrumental in furnishing fruit trees for many orchards throughout the country, both large and small, his orders ranging from two or three trees up to three thousand to an individual planter. He carries a full line of all the fruits that can be grown in this county and has been very successful.

G. A. B. Flowell planted a nursery in Spring Valley in 1901. While this nursery is not so large as some others, it is well organized as to apportionment of varieties, especial eare being taken that everything sent out shall be true to name.

The early settlers and pioneer fruit growers of the county were largely Eastern people and knew nothing of the varieties best adapated to the climate of this Northwest country. But they knew the varieties that were grown in their Eastern homes, and naturally would have a desire to try them here. And such varieties as the Baldwin, Rhode Island Greening, Northern Spy and others were tried. But the planters soon found that these varieties were of no practical value in this climate. The next to be tried were a few Russian varieties, which were thoroughly tested and tried. The Dutchess has been of more practical value as a cooking ot kitehen apple than any other variety that has thus far been grown in the Northwest. It is good to cook when half grown and satisfies a desire for apple fruit when there is no other apple to take its place. It is hardy and an annual and prolific bearer and should have a place in every orchard, more or less, according to the wishes of the planter. The writer knows of a few Dutchess trees that have been bearing fruit for thirtyseven years and are still ''doing business at the old stand."

It became a settled policy of our early pioneer fruit growers and plant breeders that if we ever obtained varieties of good size, quality and color, prolific bearing, good keepers and hardy enough to withstand weather conditions of this country; these varieties of apples must be produced from seed planted in our county ov state. Deter Gideon worked along this line and gave us the Wealthy, which is now growing in most of the states of our Union, and has nearly reached around the world. The number of Wealthy apple trees planted in the county at this writing is somewhere about 35 per cent of the whole number planted, Dutchess 15 per cent, Greening 15 per cent, Northwestern Greening 10 per cent, Peerless, Longfield, Malinda, Walbridge, MeMahon 2 per cent each. Twenty-five per cent is made up of other varieties and crabs.

The whole number of apple trees now growing in the eounty, as near as can be estimated, is some two hundred and twentyfive thousand trees. The plant breeders of Minnesota and adjoining states, of late years, have brought out nothing in the apple line that execells the Wealthy in a eommercial way. But we have many new seedlings of great promise, especially the Perkins group of seedlings brought out by T, E&. Perkins, of Red Wing, Minn., of over one hundred varieties of seedlinys, a few of whieli are going io be heard from before very long. One of them, **No. 72,'' seored 95 points at the Minnesota State Horticultural meeting in December, 1911.

Barnett Taylor

the Prosser Seedling and the Northwestern Greening, all good sized and good keeping apples, and the most of them excellent in quality, are being "'top worked'' more or Jess in the county and the southern half of the state. The writer las advocated and practiced ''top working'' now for a good many years, and the (ruit growers of the Northwest are just beginning to realize the advantages of ''top working,' or grafting good varieties on vigorous, hardy stocks, such as the Hibernal or Virginia crab. It has been well proven that the life of our apple trees can be doubled by this "'top working'' process.

The Plum. The facts in regard to the past and present of the plum imdustry in the county do not show as much progress as could be wished. The only plums within the county in the early days of its settlement were the wild plums or the Prunus Americana. The fruit growers and plant breeders within the county have tried to improve on those varieties of wild plums by planting the pits of the hest and bringing those seedlings into bearing, and then planting the pits of the best of those, and then repeating the proeess. Those methods have been tried out until there seems to be no further room for improvement, or in other words, the limit has been reached along this line. This being true, wherein hes the future improvement of our pluns? The writer asserts that the only way out of this dilemma, or the only bridge by which this difficulty can be crossed, is to cross-fertilize our wild or domesticated plums with the Japan varieties of plums. The writer owns a hybrid plum of this variety. It is equal in size to any California plum that meeis our northwestern market at the present time, and is superior in quality, a longer keeper when picked and has a smaller pit. The writer has about three hundred of the pits of this plum planted and intends to grow them this coming season of 1912 and bring them to bearing age with the hope of getting something superior to the mother hybrid plum described above.

Strawberries. [From the early settlement of the county up to the present time the strawberry has not been grown throughout the county as much as it should have been. Every farmer and town lot owner should grow strawberries for their own use. Early in the season there are hundreds of cases shipped into the county to supply the small towns. But this is before the home grown berries are ripe, so the home growers are not to be blamed. But in the ripening season of the home grown berries, as a rule, there is not half enough of the local berries to supply the demand of the towns within the county. As to varieties to plant the Warfield is a good berry, but is a pistalate variety or non-fertilizer, and in order to be fertilized must be planted with some stamanate variety, such as the Bederwood. The most popu lar and all around strawberry is the Senator Dunlap. It is a stamanate or self fertilizer, a vigorous grower of healthy plants, a great plant maker and a prolific bearer of large and most excellent fruit. But the latest fad in strawberries is the everbearing sirawberry. The writer proposes to start in with this variety this coming spring of 1912 and give them a thorough try-out.

Raspberries, gooseberries, currants and grapes are grown throughout the county. But as a rule not for market, but more for family or home use. These smaller fruits fill a place for coming purposes that help to supply the family with fruit through the winter and spring when fresh fruit conditions are not with the grower.

The writer is no prophet but he predicts that the time is soon coming when Fillmore county will be rated as the banner fruit growing connty in the state of Minnesota. In 1907 there were shipped out of the county seventy-eight car loads of apples, and in 1911 there were shipped out sixty-five car loads. There were more apples grown in 1911 than there were in 1907, but the reason why there were not as many cav loads shipped out in 1911 was that we had no buyers out of the state looking for apples as formerly. With our rolling Jand and high ridges we have an ideal apple county, and there is no reason why we eannot lead any and all other connties of the state in fruit growing when over two hundred thousand apple trees, which are now planted in the county, become of bearing age.

No history of the hortieuture of the county would be complete without mention of the two horticultural societies which have met within its borders and Jargely contributed to the development of the taste for fruits und flowers and the joys of outdoor life.

The Southern Minnesota Horticultural Society, The preliminary meeting for the purpose of organizing a southern Minnesota society was held in Albert Lea in October, 1893, when a program committee was appointed and F. W. Kimball, of Austin, was made president and Clarence Wedge, of Albert Lea, secretary. The first annual meeting of the society was held in Austin Decewber 13 and 14 following, and a membership of about thirty secured. Since that time this society has held regular annual meetings in December or January and has grown to a membership of nearly a hundred persons. The meetings have usually been held in Austin and Albert Lea, but several meetings have been held in Spring Valley and one in Owatonna. The society has been carried on as an auxiliary of the state society, its members being entitled to all the privileges and publications of the state society, of which it has been by far the leading local auxiliary. The pro- grams of the meetings and a large share of the papers read at its sessions may be found in the periodicals published by the state society. The following officers have been chosen from Freeborn county: President: A. W. Massee, 1905 to 1907, inelusive; L. P. Hi. Highby, 1908; C. M. Peterson, 1909 to 1911, inclusive. Vice President: Geo. H. Prescott, 1893 to 1894, inclusive; Jonathan Freeman, 1895 to 1901, inclusive; Mrs. C. lM. Brainerd, 1902; P. Clausen, 1905 to 1908, inelusive. Seerctary: Clarence Wedge, 1893 to 1897, inclusive; Mrs. C. B. Brainerd, 1900 to 1901, inelusive; Jonathan Freeman, 1902; L. P. H. Highby, 1903 to 1905, inelusive; C. MM. Peterson, 1906 to 1908, inclusive. Treasurer: Chris Berthelsen, 1909 to 1911, inelusive.

A meeting was held at Spring Valley February 20, 1896, and addresses were delivered by J. Marshall, C. P. Gardner and Rk. C. Livingston. June 23, 1896, a meeting was held at Preston, with O. W. Moore in the chair. Addresses were delivered by EF. S. Leonard and others. It was voted to place an exhibit on view at the county fair, and also to hold a meeting of the association at the fair grounds during fair time.

The annual meeting of 1896 was held at Spring Valley. Officers were elected as follows: Tresident, J. Q. Farmer; vice presidents, O. W. Moore, Spring Valley; J. Mansfield, Jordan; L. M. Prosser, Fillmore ; Oscar Hood, Sumner; C. Morgan, Forestville; L. Hill, Chatfield; A. Seelye, Canton; H. C. Ellergodt, Pilot Mound; secretary, R. Parkhill; treasurer, S. F. Leonard.

Addresses were delivered by H. P. Moon, C. F. Gardner, Clarence Wedge, C. G. Patten and J. Marshall. Various others also gave talks and there was an interesting program of songs and readings.

January 138. 1898, a joint mecting was held at Austin with the Southern Minnesota Horticultural Society, and it was decided at that time to merge the county association with the larger one.