82 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



there is no danger of its being smothered under pine needles — 

 and a plant thus protected, even if not set until the latter part 

 of October, will live through the winter and in the spring push 

 right up fresh and bright. No other mulching is necessary to 

 protect the fruit from sand or gravel. 



A learned preacher in an Easter sermon said that in the spring 

 all the husbandman needed to do was to plant his ground and 

 then sit down and wait patiently for the harvest. Judging from 

 the appearance of the strawberry bed in the garden of the aver- 

 age farmer, he is evidently of the same opinion, for I do not 

 think any one can raise fruit successfully, and especially the 

 strawberry, without having a natural love for the work, it is 

 such a pleasure to watch the growth of the tiny plant, study its 

 needs, give it careful protection from the ice and snow, and in 

 spring to see the buds gradually unfold till suddenly the rows 

 burst into snow-white bloom, and later to be rewarded with the 

 luscious fruit, gleaming like rubies amid their foliage of green — 

 a sight to delight the eye and gladden the heart. 



Prof. Craig: Mr. President, I am afraid that I cannot give 

 expression to the remarks that should be called out by such an 

 excellent paper. It does seem to me that when women come 

 into horticulture they always present a side which we men are 

 apt to overlook. You observe how we men keep talking on the 

 dollars and cents side all the time, but when women take up the 

 question they touch on the more aesthetic side and tell us some- 

 thing about the beauty and the quality of the product. We may 

 notice that the varieties were characterized in the paper and one 

 was set off against the other largely on the basis of quality. 

 I think we consider too much the selling value of fruit. Take 

 the Ben Davis, for instance. If it grows well and sells well, it 

 is a good thing to cultivate. We don't consider the future. 



Then there is the other and finer sentimental and aesthetic 

 side to be taken into consideration, the influence on the home 

 and all that, which was suggested by a little touch at the end of 

 the paper we have just heard. These are things that we as fruit 

 growers ought to keep in mind more persistently. 



But in this paper the practical sides were also very nicely 

 handled, it seems to me. One thing I should like to say about 

 the strawberry, and that is that it is essentially an amateur fruit, 

 it is essentially a plant which belongs to the home, and if there 



