Joint Convention. 187 



runners commence to come out, he would go over the bed about 

 once a week and put these runners down under the straw, close 

 to the ground. They will take care of themselves and strike root 

 in the earth and crowd up through the straw. Thus you will 

 soon have the surface of the soil completely covered with a bed 

 of straw, through which the plants will spread, covering the straw 

 with their leaves. If the soil is good the plants will make an 

 enormous growth. The Wilson is the only variety he had tried 

 in this way; others might do as well, but he could not speak 

 from experience in the matter. He had trained them in rows, 

 but thought it would be better if there was time to distribute 

 the runners evenly, to spread them over the whole surface, scat- 

 tering them as much as possible. This would give larger and 

 more highly colored berries and by the shelter would tend to 

 prolong the bearing season. AVliere the soil and fruit are exposed 

 to the hot sun in picking time, the season is much shorter. 



Another benefit resulting from this treatment, where the 

 plants as set are taken from beds near at hand, and they are not 

 exposed to sun and air any length of time, is that a fair crop of 

 berries can be raised the first season. He set the plants about 

 the first of May, and picked berries enough the last of June to 

 pay all expenses of preparation of the soil and cultivation up to 

 that time. The reason of this bearinfj the first season is that 

 the straw protects the plants from the rays of the sun, and also 

 increases the moisture in the soil, and they keep on growing 

 about the same as though they had not been moved. 



Whenever he heard papers read giving accounts of remarkable 

 yields, and the different kinds of berries, with methods of cult- 

 ure, he felt like adding a word of caution to those who were to 

 depend on one or two varieties for their fruit, to get only those 

 varieties that had perfect blossoms, and that they should make 

 those of whom they bought the plants guarantee that they were 

 self fertilizers. The reason why so many fail is because they 

 get plants that need to be set near other varieties to be fertilized. 

 Sometimes plants sold for Wilson are not the Wilson at all. 

 Where a plant blossoms freely, and there is no frost to blight 

 the blossom, and no fruit is raised, it is very certain that it is 



