STATE HOBTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 63 



WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. 



The first thing ou the program being music, Miss Pearl Hewitt 

 responded to the call and favored the audience with a charming solo, 

 after which the President called the 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON STRAWBERRIES. 



BY T>. H. GRAY, ELMWOOD. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: 



Perhaps we are not behind any State in the Union in the amount 

 and quality of strawberries grown. The season is a long one, last- 

 ing from twelve to fourteen weeks. It begins at 'Cairo and closes up 

 in Lake County. Sometimes the harvest moves gradually from 

 Southern Illinois to Central and then to Northern. This is the rule, 

 but by some climatic change, 1885 and 1886 crow^ded our harvest 

 into about half the usual time, the Central and the Southern coming 

 almost together. This year gave us the usual order of ripening and 

 the usual length of harvest time for the state. To this fact in part 

 we are indebted for the increased price of the fruit over the past two 

 years. 



Throughout the northwestern part of Central Illinois the crop 

 was lighter than usual by at least twenty-five per cent. This was 

 occasioned by the drouth of last year during July, August and the 

 first half of September. The drouth prevented the early growth of 

 runners. The young plants were too late in setting to bear much 

 fruit this season. On some plantations where plowing was repeated 

 every week throughout the summer, the effect of the drouth was not 

 so marked on the young plants. 



I saw two plots of Bubach's No. 5, started early in the spring, 

 both were on very rich deep mellow soil, the owner of one plot com- 

 menced cultivating his plants three days after planting them and 

 followed it up once a week at least, until the rains of September fell. 

 The second after two weeks commenced cultivating his plants and 

 repeated it between showers during the season. The first, set runners 

 throughout the month of August, making a close row of plants early 

 in the season. The second, established his rows in September or four 

 weeks later than the first. The first yielded at the rate of four 

 thousand quarts per acre. The second did not reach the yield of one 

 thousand per acre. Yet to an inexperienced grower the plots looked 

 equally well a few weeks before flowering time. There may have 

 been other causes for the difference in yield, but they were not appar- 

 ent. 



