238 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Thursday, Dec. — 7:30 p. in. 



QUESTIONS. 



The following letters were read and answered by the Secretary : 



I wish to start a strawberr.v lied In tlie spring of about 1000 or so plants. Would It be 

 best to buy the looo plants, set tliein in the sprlnf< and keep runners out, or could I buy, say, 

 100 plants and set out In spring, let them put out enough runners to detach and set out in 

 the fall. Would these detached runners planted In the fall bear fruit next spring ? Which 

 plan would be best to pursue. 



What Is the best early berry I could get ? What best late ones ? 



Answer — Plant 1000 plants in the spring, Beder Wood, Gandy. 



ALBUQUERQUE, N. M., Jan. 5, 1895 

 L. A. GooDMAV, AVestport, Mo.: 



Dear Sir— W^IU you please tell me which Is the best late dwarf pear, late standard 



pear, quince and grapes to set out for commercial purposes, viz., good size, color, shippers 



and keepers. Also, what do you think of the Easter Keurre dwarf pear? 



By answering the above you will greatly oblige, 



B. E. Sampson. 



Answers — The best (dwarf pear) is Duchess; the best late (stand- 

 ard pear) is Winter Xellis ; the best qiiince is Mo. Mammoth ; the best 

 grapes are Worden and Concord. The Easter Beurre is one of the 

 best pears, but has not proven profitable here. 



Willow Brook, Jan. 24, 1895. 

 Mr, L. A. GooDMAX, Westport, Mo : 



Dear Sir— I send you two of the new apple (Payton) , medium size. I have thought It 



was a sport of the Ben Davis, but if so. It Is quite a different apple. We think It Is a little 



better than Ben Davis. The only reason I thought It might be Gano Is that the old tree 



might have been (iano Instead of Ben Davis: but I do not know why the Gano first came out 



or was tlrst grafted; but it Is not likely to be Gano, as the original trees were planted about 



30 years ago. If It Is only a sport of the Ben Davis, I would claim that the quality Is fully as 



good, and that In every other way as good, and that in color and beauty It far excels the 



Ben Davis. Please give me your opinion on It, and very much oblige. 



Yours very truly , 



S. H. Murray, 



Answer — The apple was the Gano. 



Bethany, Mo. , December i, 1894. 

 Secretary State Horticultural Association, Trenton, Mo. 



Sir— I would like an expression from your Society on the following: (l) When the 

 work is properly attended to, which is the best season for planting plums and currants, 

 spring or fall? (2) AA'hat aged plum trees from nursery Is best to plant where permanency 

 and ultimate yield Is desired more than early fruiting? (3) Can chickens, when stocked at 

 100 hens to the acre, devoted to plums, be depended upon to follow up the early morning 

 jarring of trees and destroy the curcullo that fall, as Is claimed by some? 



I find, from inquiry, that In this county Blue Damson in almost all situations without 

 care matures fair crops almost every year; In fact, all years that native varieties yield, I 

 also find a few European varieties here and there that produce a few plums each year, and 

 they bloom and set fruit fully almost every year; the unattended curcullo apparently is all 

 that is In the way of their maturing full crops. I (have noticed two varieties- a large blue 

 plum and a large [green plum with reddish side, where exposed to the sun. (4) Does the 

 foregoing warrant the assumption that the finer European and other foreign varieties prop- 

 erly cultivated on favored situations will produce remunerative crops? Ours is a clay soil, 

 underlaid with a stiff, tenacious clay sub-soil, interlined with limestone. I liave selected a 

 northwest exposure, high up on side of ridge, with good surface and air drainage. (5) Will 

 it be necessary to under- drain this soil? 



Thanking in advance for any answers of benefit to a novice, I am, gentlemen. 



Yours truly, J Q. Brown, 



