Strawberries. 67 



strong grower, but was liable to be injured in the winter. He 

 would add to Mr. Stickney's list, one-eighth of the Crescent. He 

 had picked his first bushel of berries this year from it. It was 

 nearly two weeks earlier than the Wilson. The berries are earlier 

 * on high ground, and of better quality ; on a heavy clay soil there 

 is a greater growth of vine, larger berries and greater yield, but 

 the quality of the fruit is not as good. It is not a perfect plant, 

 and does better planted by the side of the Wilson, Prouty or Seth 

 Boyd en. 



Mr. Peffer would raise the Wilson alone, for profit. The Seth 

 Boyden had yielded well with him, but he would not raise it for 

 market purposes. Did not consider it a perfect plant. 



Pres. Smith was better pleased with the Crescent than he ex- 

 pected to be ; thought it was worth keeping, and should continue to 

 raise it. It was a wonderful grower, and bore heavily ; the berry 

 was too soft for shipment, was very fragrant, but of inferior qual- 

 ity. It ripened with him a week earlier than the Wilson, and 

 continued in bearing as long. He also raised the Kentucky, as it 

 was a late berry and added a week to the length of the season ; 

 would raise a few of Seth Boyden for home use, but not for mar- 

 ket. The Downer's Prolific was a good table berry, but worthless 

 for shipping. With him, the Crescent had suffered the most from 

 drought. 



In reply to an inquiry by Mr. Huntley, if it were possible to 

 lengthen the berry season by a heavy covering of the beds, Mr. 

 Peffer said he had tried the experiment by covering half of a 

 bed with marsh hay ; the half that was not covered gave the first 

 picking on the 31st of May; the covered, on June 15th, and the 

 berries were the largest. Left the mulch on until the crowns 

 pushed up through, and pulled the weeds by hand; the other half 

 was cultivated in the fall. 



Mr. Stickney said it would be difficult to mulch four or five 

 acres, and he thought it would pay better to lay out the same 

 amount of labor on one or two acres. He made a practice of com- 

 posting the beds at the time the plants were sending out the first 

 runners; put on about fifteen loads of compost to the acre, to 

 crowd the growth of the plants. The first runners were guided 



