402 TRANSACTIONS OF THE RICHLAND 



TUESDAY MORNING, JAN. 14. 



President J. P. Wilson called the meeting to order at 10:30 

 o'clock. 



W. F. Ritter made report of his experience in growing rasp- 

 berries. Mr. Ritter, said: I have tried nearly all the varieties, 

 both old and new. I have paid out considerable money for new 

 varieties and I am disgusted with the glowing reports made by 

 nurserymen's catalogues of the new varieties, for I have found 

 fully nine-tenths of all that is said of them to be untrue. I 

 have found Souhegan, Chapman and Tyler to be practically the 

 same berry with me. The earliest berry I have found to be 

 Davidson's Thornless, but it is not a heavy bearer. All the ber- 

 ries are taken in two to four pickings. Mammoth Cluster I 

 consider best quality of any berry I have ever grown, but not 

 reliable for market. 



T. W. Hutchinson — What varieties would you recommend for 

 early and what for late ? 



Mr. Ritter — Souhegan for early and Gregg for late. The 

 Gregg I consider the most reliable berry for us. It is, in fact, 

 to the raspberry family what the Ben Davis is to the apple 

 family. 



J. F. Decker, giving his experience on pruning raspberry vines, 



said: I have tried both fall and spring pruning and have 



become fully convinced that spring is the proper time to prune. 



I have noticed that vines stand winter better when not pruned in 



fall. I prefer two or three canes to the hill. M. J. Harris 



favors but one cane to the hill but says he does not always practice 



it. Mr. Ritter thinks one cane enough and says the berries will 



be larger. 



o 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



The President called the house to order at the appointed time 

 and M. J. Harris, of Calhoun, made the following report on 

 strawberries : 



My first experience cultivating strawberries was with the old, 

 well-known and once popular Wilson. It was once a noble va- 

 riety, giving good growth of plant and an abundant supply of 

 fruit. It is now enfeebled with age and in this locality is unprofit- 

 able. It is a very good fertilizer for pistilate varieties, but it is 



