■26 Mississippi Valley Horticultural Society. 



When they begin to throw out runners, go through the beds and distrib- 

 ute them in about equal distances around the parent plant. For instance, 

 suppose the plant throws out eight runners, perhaps three-fourths of them 

 upon one side, as is often the case. When they get about ready to commence 

 the forhiation of new plants, place the runners in equal distances around 

 the parent, and place a little earth upon them, only sufficient to hold them 

 in their place. In a feAv days the new plants are formed, and you will have 

 a nice circle of new plants about the old one, all of them preparing to do 

 their best for you the following season, instead of having a cluster (>f them 

 too thick to do their best upon one side, and few or none upon the other. 



They will now go on radiating in all d rections and fill up the ground. I 

 am speaking now of the Wilson ; this plan maj- not be necessary with other 

 varieties. 



Late in the fall, after the ground freezes, they should be covered with 

 straw, or, what I like better, marsh hay, as the latter hsis no foul seed in it to 

 annoy us the following season. Cover the plants sufficiently deep to hide 

 them from view. The covering should be left upon them until the ground 

 is done freezing in the spring. One of the greatest benefits of winter cover- 

 ing is the protection given to the plants during the early spring, when the 

 ground freezes more or less nearly every night and thaws during the day. 



During this process, the land becomes what we call honey-combed, or in 

 other words, in freezing the top of it rises somewhat from its natural posi- 

 tion, and in doing so either starts the roots of the plants from their natural 

 position, or breaks them off a short distance beneath the surface of the 

 earth; either one of these will be fatal to a large crop of fruit. 



Hence I leave the covering upon mine until the plants have started be- 

 neath it. After removing the covering, go through the beds and destroy 

 •every weed and blade of grass that has hitherto escaped notice. Put on a 

 good covering of well-rotted manure, say fifteen to twenty loads per acre, or, 

 if you can get it, fifty to seventy-five bushels of unleached ashes per acre. If 

 leached ashes use twice the amount. 1 have almost invariably found it ne- 

 cessary to go through my beds twice during the spring before the picking 

 commences, and occasionally three times. The beds should be kept free of 

 weeds at any cost. 



Both plants and berries need the sun to enable them tcJ do their best. If, 

 after all other work is done, I find that the crop promises to be an extra 

 large one, I often put on an additional coat of manure, or, if I have used 

 manure in the early spring, put on ashes for the second fertilizer. This will 

 assist the late berries very much in keeping up their size and firmness, and 

 thus add much to the value of the crop. During the picking season we 

 sometimes have a very dry time, and unless we can water the beds artificially 

 much of our time and labor will be lost. 



For a number of years past I have had no vines out of the reach of artifi- 

 cial watering. I find one thorough wetting much better than two or three 

 fiprinklingg. As regards the amount of expense that may be incurred for 



