EEPORTS OF AUXILIARY SOCIETIES. 297 



cannot reach them. Don't set a day for garden work, for you are sure to 

 postpone it. 



Geo. T. Lay: I had no trouble last year. Used hen manure in all hills and 

 drills and worms and insects avoided it, except the cabbage worm. 



Mr. Man waring: Hen manure is next to guano as a fertilizer and invalua- 

 ble for vines. 



CULTIVATION" OF SMALL FRUITS. 



Mr. Buck showed samples of the Seneca Chief, Seth Boyden, Cr^'stal City, 

 Sharpless, and Shirts strawberries. Eelating his experience in strawberry cul- 

 ture he said that five years ago he got at Plainwell roots of the Kentucky, 

 Emperor, Seth Boyden, Seneca Chief, and Charles Downing, 250 in all, set 

 them out, and they had supplied him with berries ever since, though they have 

 had no cultivation for the past two years.- The Kentucky will grow and bear 

 a long time, and do well even if neglected. It is the lazy man's strawberry. 

 [Every member inquired for plants.] It is a late berry and of good quality. 

 The Crystal City is early and goad. E. P. Roe says the Crystal City is the 

 earliest, the Glendale the latest, and the Sharpless the largest of strawberries. 

 The Sharpless winter-killed badly, but of the Crystal City not so many as of 

 the Wilson. I think the Shirts berry equal to the Wilson in shipping qualities 

 and superior to it in flavor. It was originated by E. Shirts of Shelby, Oceana 

 county, and was named by vote of the State Pomological Society at Muskegon 

 two years ago. It is an easy thing to have a strawberry patch. If yon have a 

 rod of ground you can have berries, whether it is sand or any other soil, even 

 if white clay. Set the plants in clean ground prepared as for corn. If in a 

 field set four feet apart so as to permit the use of cultivator or drag. Turn the 

 runners so that they will not spread more than a foot, let them set, and you 

 will have what is called the matted row. For garden culture set eighteen 

 inches apart and let them mat together. They will lasc so several years. Then 

 change to a new patch. From a patch one rod by three my lamily has berries 

 three times a day and we can large quantities besides. 



Mr. Manwaring: May 1st get plants with white roots as they are new and 

 have not yet fruited. The land should be good old sod or well manured. Plow 

 in the fall and use a spring-tooth harrow, cut back the roots, leave one leaf, 

 plant as you would cabbages, cultivate and let the runners alone after the first 

 harvest ; turn under after one crop. Before turning under take the runners and 

 set a new patch, doing so each year. 



Mr. Buck had found that black roots grew as well as white. 



S. Rumery : I have supposed stawberries could not well be raised on such 

 heavy soil as mine, but in the light of Mr. Buck's statement I shall try a patch 

 next spring. 



J. H. Wetmore : If Mr. Rumery had ever tried strawberries on heavy soil 

 he would have found that it beats sandy soil altogether. His first patch of 

 eight rows three rods long has yielded for sale as high as six bushels besides a 

 liberal supply for the family. There is no trouble with a garden when it is well 

 cared for, but it was only in a few cases that he had found the right sort of a 

 man for gardener. Englishmen and Dutchmen make good gardens but he 

 would never hire a Yankee as a gardener. 



Mr. Smith : My neighbor has an Englishman at work for him, who makes a 

 good garden, going to it after supper and early in the morning, from a liking 

 for it. I don't know whether he receives extra pay. 



