SECRETARY'S PORTFOLIO. 359 



slipshod through life, who never does anything thoroughly, unless it be to eat 

 and sleep, who will not more than half prepare his ground or half take care of 

 it after the plants are set, may, from the midst of weeds and grass, get a fair 

 crop of Green Prolific or Wilson strawberries, or even of that much over-praised 

 new variety, the Crescent Seedling. But they will not be first-class berries of 

 even these comparatively poor varieties. Many persons, however, will be satis- 

 fied with them. Persous who will discriminate readily between good and poor 

 apples, or any other sort of fruit, say strawberries are strawberries, and they 

 can't see much difference in them except in size and shape. It seems almost 

 incredible that the sour Wilson should seem the same as the sweet Seth Boyden, 

 the flavorless Green Prolific as the rich flavored Duncan, or the dull acid of the 

 Crescent as the spicy and delightful flavor of the President Wilder, Essex 

 Beauty, Centennial Favorite, Great American, and a host of others. 



But these splendid high-flavored berries cannot be produced without labor 

 and care and skill. They demand a deep, rich, and thoroughly prepared soil. 

 I am not unaware that the opinion has prevailed somewhat extensively in the 

 past and is still entertained by a few growers, that in a very rich soil all va- 

 rieties will run too much to vines ; that the vines will grow large and rampant 

 but the fruit small in size and quantity. Many years ago a friend of mine told 

 me he had been trying for several years to raise strawberries in his garden but 

 had failed until that year, and that year he was getting a large crop, tie ac- 

 counted for it by saying that formerly he had them on his best soil, but that 

 year they were on a yellow clay that did not seem to have much richness in it. 

 The probability is he had them where a stump or log heap had been burned 

 and that the ground was full of ashes, one of the very best fertilizers for straw- 

 berries, and that in previous years he used raw manures. 



I certainly never have been able to make a soil too rich with properly pre- 

 pared manure for the finer varieties of this fruit, or to bestow upon them too 

 much care in the way of weeding and cultivating. In fact I can get no satis- 

 factory returns from them, and have never found anyone that could, from a 

 poor or poorly prepared soil, with careless after treatment. 



It seems to me that small fruit nurserymen are too much in the habit of 

 representing the growing of strawberries and other small fruits as requiring 

 but little time and labor. The farmer or the laborer may thereby be induced 

 to make a purchase of plants — and he will always want the best — but he will 

 be likely to feel deceived and disappointed, when he finds they will not pro- 

 duce among weeds. 



Three years ago a lady in the city came to me for plants. She did not know 

 what varieties she wanted, but said she wanted the best, and her husband told 

 her to have me select them and he would hold me responsible for their quality, 

 etc. I took the responsibility on condition that they should be cared for as I 

 directed. The next year, at the time of fruiting, she met me at the store 

 where my berries were sold, and inquired for the name of one of the varieties 

 she had. She said the fruit was very large and very sweet, that neither she 

 nor her neighbors ever saw any berries equal to them. They had good care. 

 A gentleman who is a large farmer, and who I knew was extremely busy in 

 tending to the work of his farm, came for plants, said he wanted those as 

 good as any I had. I told him what was the best for one was not always the 

 best for another, that those that produced the largest and finest berries would 

 require the best soil and care, that weeds and grass must be kept out and the 

 runners ought to be cut off. He took the same varieties that the lady had. 



