Self-taught gardener Dmitry Ivanovich Kazantsev became a recognized breeder, one of the first Michurinians in the Urals. He described his experiences and published many scientific and popular science articles. In difficult times for the country and for the family, he never deviated from his plans. He called fruit trees “heroes of labor”.
From biography
Dmitry Ivanovich Kazantsev was born in 1875 as the first-born in a very large peasant family that lived in the village of Severo-Konevo, Perm province. He graduated from two classes of elementary public school. At home, he loved to work in the garden, he helped his mother a lot. At the age of 13, he got a job at a mine as an assistant clerk. At the age of 16 he left for the Nizhniy Tagil plant, entered the zemstvo school.
After the teacher Kuzma Osipovich Rudy brought the students to his garden, Dmitry caught fire with the dream of gardening. In Yekaterinburg, where he moved, he got a job as an accountant in a bank. He devoted all his life to breeding fruit trees that would be resistant to the climate of the Urals and would yield no less yield than in the south.
Start of gardening experiences
The experiments of A. A. Zimin and K. O. Ore growing apple trees in the Urals interested the young man. He wanted to grow, despite the harsh climate of the Urals, apples that are not inferior in taste to those varieties that grew in warm regions. And although he did not have an agronomic education behind him, he took a chance. Learned gardening from books and confirmed or refuted ideas experimentally.
The family, saving on many things and borrowing from friends, bought the estate. He and his wife prepared the land for future plantings. Many gardener friends helped him as best they could. After correspondence with I. V. Michurin, the scientist sent him seedlings. At first, the cross-pollination experiment was unsuccessful. The second experiment resulted in a hybrid variety Kordik.
The recognition has come
The revolutionary events of 1917 began. And he, despite the difficult times and the poor situation in the family, did not give up on his dream. And so, in order to taste the first harvest, the whole family sat at the table - Kazantsev's wife, who, like some neighbors, was ironic about his hobby, son and daughter.
D. Kazantsev achieved the endurance of his hybrids and continued to increase the weight of the fruits, improve their color and shape. The correspondence with Michurin grew into cooperation. His garden became the first center for the selection of fruit plants in the Urals. D. Kazantsev returned from the VDNKh exhibition inspired. For the Kordik variety, he was awarded a silver medal.
The fate of the garden
D. Kazantsev finished his life in 1942. His wife and daughter became the heirs of his estate. Subsequently, they transferred the garden to the pedagogical institute, hoping that he would be able to preserve it. In the 80s, the estate became a historical monument. In the 90s they tried to demolish it, but not indifferent Sverdlovsk residents, headed by Galina Dmitrievna, defended this cherished place. Now a museum has been created in the estate. Among the visitors' reviews there are many inscriptions in English.
Literary creativity
D. Kazantsev was not only a breeder, but also a writer. He has published over 40 scientific articles and published several books.
In the 1930s, the Soviet state needed his garden. D. Kazantsev was very glad that two girls-agronomists - Katya Medyantseva and Lyuba Shkurko - were conducting experiments on crossing apple trees in his garden. Observing the work of the girls, he wrote the story "The Bee".
Apple feast
In the book "Apple Feast" Kazantsev proved to young gardeners that it was not the climate of the Urals that was to blame, but the man himself, who did not know how to grow fruit trees. He described all his actions for planting and caring for apple trees. He explained in detail his mistakes and attempts to correct them. At what time of the year is it better to plant trees, when to write them out, how to straighten each root. The most inexperienced amateur gardener can, after reading his advice, graft a tree.
The author describes with interest the time when he visited Michurin's jubilee in his nursery and was struck by a strawberry tomato, an amazing lily with a violet scent, Turkish tobacco, a Bulgarian rose … He saw special hives with bees for pollination, a ground shed for plants- " foreigners ". Pollen was taken from them and new varieties were obtained from such a crossing. The city of Kozlov was named Michurinskoye and landscaped. Fruit trees grow like guards around Michurin's grave.
Kazantsev recalls the conference of Michurin followers, who, having arrived in Michurinsk, talked about their successes. Then the whole city went to a meeting in honor of the great scientist. The American professor Hansen, who was present at the celebration, said that their hybridizer Burbank did a lot, but not as much as Michurin. He proposed to work together on the development of such a variety of apple trees, the fruits of which will be stored for more than one year.
D. Kazantsev followed the trial and error method and shared his advice in the book. He is glad that he was able to work in the nursery. He spoke about the trees on his site like this:
From personal life
In 1900, Dmitry Ivanovich married for the first time. They have a son. But soon he parted with his wife. In 1910, his teacher Anna Nikolaevna became his wife. They had a daughter, Galina, and a son, Peter. Friendly family members helped my father fulfill his dream.
Fruit growing nugget
The famous breeder D. Kazantsev has been engaged in gardening for more than three decades. Thanks to his efforts and perseverance, hard work and thirst for knowledge, the Urals became a fruitful garden. One of the doctors familiar to D. Kazantsev spoke of his enthusiasm:
