12 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Wednesday Morning Session. 



Wednesday morning it was decided to take up first, out of the prescribed 

 order, the subject of small fruit culture, pending which Messrs. Geo. C. 

 McClatchie and J. B. Houk told of the beginnings of fruitgrowing in 

 Mason county. They had better success after the forests were cut off 

 than before; they at first set varieties that were unadajpted to the locality, 

 and for a time feared theirs was not a peach-growing region, but latterly 

 they had been more successful and now believe they grow as fine peaches 

 as any on the shore. Seventeen years ago the mercury went to 21° below 

 zero, but the country was then uncleared. Since that time it has not been 

 more than 6° below. 



WORK WITH SMALL FRUITS. 



Mr. R. Morrill of Benton Harbor, read a pajier upon Cultivation of 

 Small Fruits, which was withheld from publication. 



He was asked, Would you grow blackberries without laying them down 

 in winter? In reply to this and a question about strawberries, he said: 

 I grow only Wilson and Early Harvest blackberries and I lay them down. 

 It costs but $3 to $6 to lay them down, making the expense of protection 

 about $10 per acre, and it pays. Among strawberries, Wharfield No. 2 

 outsold everything upon the Chicago market last season. It is more 

 uniform and regular in size of fruit than any other; is heart-shaped, deep 

 red, with tough skin and solid flesh, which retains its lustre; it is very 

 productive and has succeeded in Illinois as well as in Berrien county; by 

 way of comparison, it is like the large Wilsons of years ago, but with more 

 skin surface and less seeds. 



Mr. C. W. Garfield commended the Long Bunch Holland currant. It 

 is grown very successfully in Wisconsin. 



President Lyon had a good opinion of the Wharfield strawberry from 

 his one year's trial of it. He grew it in narrow rows (eight to ten inches 

 in width and the i)lants not close) using potted plants. This year he will 

 have the rows 2^ to 3 feet wide. It has been so grown in Illinois four 

 years, and with success. Wharfield and Wharfield No. 2 are the same so 

 far as fruit goes. No. 1 being a pistillate variety for fertilizing No. 2. 



Messrs. Lyon and Morrill protested against the practice of introducing 

 fruits by number, because it leads to confusion and nothing is gained 

 by it. 



Mr. Morrill: In laying down blackberry canes I employ two or three 

 men. One goes ahead with a round-pointed and long-handled shovel and 

 digs under the canes six inches or so; the second man pushes them over, 

 and the third throws on earth to hold them down. In case of the Wilson, 

 I cover the canes entirely with earth, taking care not to crack nor sharply 

 bend them, as to do so prevents ripening of the fruit. In the spring, throw 

 them up again with a fork and replace the earth. Then, after rain has 

 cleaned them, I do the trimming, cutting back four to six inches. I do 

 not simply nip them, for in doing so one would often leave a terminal bud 

 that would run up at the expense of the laterals. A knife is better than 

 shears for this work, being of more rapid action. 



