118 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Munson: As to the amount of ashes per acre, I am now applying 

 to my lands ashes at rate of 200 bushels per acre. 



Mr. Morkill: I put on 100 bushels per acre each year. 



Mr. Kedzie: I have no objection. You have plenty of ashes, or means 

 to get them. I have been advising the average man, who is " short " on 

 ashes. 



THE NEW IDEAS IN STEAWBEREY CULTUEE. 



BY MR. R. M. KELLOGG OF IONIA. 



The ideal strawberry patch may be said to be one in which the ground 

 is wholly occupied with plants, each having an abundance of root pastur- 

 age, light, and air, and has the fruiting vigor and ability to bring the 

 largest crops to the highest perfection, without the loss of energy in pro- 

 ducing surplus foliage or unmerchantable fruit. 



The ideal in strawberry-growing, as in everything else, is the very 

 essence of perfection, and since there are many elements over which we 

 can have no control, and which must enter largely into our calculations, 

 entire success is not always attainable. Nevertheless, nature has well- 

 defined laws which may be relied upon to produce certain results. If we 

 understand these laws, many obstacles, which seem insurmountable, can 

 be easily overcome. If we know the law or cause that produces the 

 result, we can proceed with much certainty ; but if we find certain results 

 and attribute the wrong cause, we are thrown into confusion and uncer- 

 tainty. 



Figure 1. 



Let us lake a moment's time to consider some of these laws and point 

 out some of the most prominent causes of failure of the average strawberry 

 grower. We will begin at the beginning of his operations and follow him 

 through to his harvest, and analyze his errors. The grower is told that 

 his ground must be elevated and rich, that barnyard manure is the best 

 fertilizer, and should be drawn from the stable as made, spread on the sur- 

 face at once, several inches thick, and plowed under in the spring — all of 

 which he proceeds to do with great care. He scratches the surface over 

 with a harrow until somewhat fine, and lays off' his ground with a marker, 

 making a furrow from one to three inches deep. 



