28 3Iississippi Valley Horticultural Society. 



For table berries to be used in the home families, I know of nothing better 

 than Burr's New Pine and Downer's Prolitic. They are both moderate in 

 size, moderate bearers, and too soft for market, but very choice in quality. 

 Within the last twenty-five years I have picked rijie berries twice ujion the 

 Gtli of June. Twice it has been the 25th of June when we picked our first 

 ripe fruit. 



From the 10th to the 13th we generally get our first ripe fruit. Upon 

 some of the cold highlands about L:ike Superior they do not ripen until 

 nearly one month later than in Central and Southern Wisconsin. 



The season generally lasts about four weeks, and until about the com- 

 mencement of the raspberry season. Last season we had our last dish of 

 strawberries and our first dish of raspberries upon the table at the same time. 



I employ all of my pickers by the day. Each one has two boxes. 



Into one of them is placed all the nice merchantable fruit, and in the 

 other the imperfect berries are put. 



The last named are sold at home for what they will bring. The others are 

 of course retained for market. 



In advocating spring cultivation as I have done, I well know that I am 

 going against the opinions of some of our large and successful cultivators. 

 In my own defense allow me to say this much: I would not and do not cul- 

 tivate sufficiently deep to injure the roots of the growing plants. If your 

 lands or strawberry beds were as rich as I make mine, you must of necessity 

 either cultivate in the spring or lose your crop. These are facts from which 

 there is no escape. 



It may be asked then, why make the land so very rich? My answer is 

 as follows: My long experience has taught me this. Other things being 

 equal, the richer the land the larger the crop. 



The Crescent Seedling may be an exception to this rule. But I can think 

 of no other. 



It is often said that the Wilson is failing. I can see no indications of it in 

 the district of country from which I come. On the contrary, I think that 

 the finest and most promising beds of them that I have seen were within the 

 last six months. 



Gentlemen, I have thus given you ray own views and experience, rather 

 than that of others, not because I wish to boast of what I have done or can 

 do, but simply because my methods have been successful. I have failed but 

 once in more than twenty years to have at least a paying crop, and most of 

 the time they have been not only very large, but very profitable. I believe 

 that I may say, and will only stiite it because I know it to be a fact, that I 

 have never known any one whose crops have been so uniformly large as my 

 own. 



These large crops have by no means been the result of chance or hap- 

 hazard cultivation, but of very rich land, well drained, heavily manured, 

 thoroughly cultivated, well protected during the winter, surface manured 

 in the spring, and well watered if dry weather came on during the bearing 

 season. 



