114 3Iississip2)i Valley Horticultural Society. 



Coiuiecticiit OAvned a small tract of land, little more than half an- 

 acre, that lay a little lower than a small brook, and by tapping this 

 brook he let the water in on his land. He planted two varieties of 

 berries, one of which was the Wilson, keeping the runners cut. 

 The next year he let in the water from the time the plants were in 

 blossom, letting it in at night, and cutting it off at 2 o'clock in the 

 morning. The whole field was saturated every night, and he 

 picked and delivered over 7,000 quarts of Wilson strawberries and 

 sold them at 35 cents a quart. • > 



3Ir. S7iiith — W^e have had one or two dry years since I put up 

 my waterworks, and I have no doubt that they paid me in those 

 years. • _. 



The President — My friends, our programme calls for a paper, which 

 I know you are all anxious to hear, from the Rev. E. P. Roe, of 

 New York, a gentleman whose " Success with Small Fruits" has 

 not only fascinated the thousands of readers of his very sumptuous 

 and valuable book, but the many visitors to his finely cultivated 

 berry farm. You will all regret, as T do deeply, Mr. Roe's un- 

 avoidable detention at home by sickness ; but you will both hear 

 and read his too brief paper with satisfaction and profit. 



SMALL FRUITS IN THE SOUTH. 



BYl^E. P. ROE, OF NEW YORK. 



There has been a vast deal of disappointment and useless expense incurred 

 in Southern small fruit culture, and all from the lack of due consideration 

 of a few essential facts and principles. An enterprising Southerner sends to- 

 a responsible nurseryman for his catalogue, orders and sets out the most ap- 

 proved varieties, gives them careful culture, and, in many instances, is 

 rewarded by utter failure. The foliage of certain kinds of strawberries 

 shrivels and disappears during the long hot summer; the most vaunted rasp- 

 berries lose their leaves and perish; gooseberries and currants maintain a 

 sickly existence if they survive at all. What is the reason ? 



The explanation, and also the secret of success, is found by going back to> 

 lirst principles. Let us begin with the strawberry, the small fruit best 

 adapted to the South, and the most valuable everywhere. 



In the first place, strawberries of commerce, and ninety-nine hundredths 

 of all that appear on our tables, are wholly American in origin. What are 

 termed foreign varieties were originally imported from North and South 

 America, propagated in France and England and disseminated to other parts 

 of the continent. Varieties were obtained from, (a) the species known as the 



