202 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



is light and easy of transportation, with a sure and ready sale at 

 fair prices. No more if so much can be said of other fruits. 



We close by remarking that all things considered, we regard 

 fruit growing as a profitable and pleasant branch of horti- 

 culture. 



Mr. Slade. What is the object of covering up strawberries ? 



Mr. Hstde. The object is to prevent them from freezing and 

 thawing and being injured. No man knows better than your- 

 self that it is not extreme cold that kills many things in our 

 climate ; it is the alternate freezing and thawing. For instance : 

 I saw an English ivy here in town, which, wherever it is shel- 

 tered from the sun, stands very well ; but wherever the sun 

 strikes it, it scorches it like fire. It is not the heat : it is the 

 freezing and thawing. This applies to the peach, to the althea 

 and many other things. Whenever my strawberries have 

 been left uncovered, they have presented a half-killed ap- 

 pearance ; when they are properly covered, they come out 

 as fresh and green as when the covering was put on them. 

 And you will notice another thing: when there is a thaw in 

 winter, you find that the ground under this protection, if the 

 beds are properly covered, is perfectly frozen, while if you step 

 anywhere else you may get into mud an inch or two deep ; 

 showing that the covering protects your strawberries from these 

 alternations of heat and cold and keeps them in better condition. 



Question. Is there any remedy for that blight of the Wilson 

 which prevails in your vicinity ? 



Mr. Hyde. That is a very singular trouble which affects the 

 Wilson. We must have a better variety. I think our friend 

 Moore has a seedling which will prove to be better. I hope he 

 has. The Wilson is somewhat capricious. It works in this 

 way : sometimes it will spread all over the ground and make 

 more growth than you want and present none of that appear- 

 ance to which I have referred. At other times it will stand 

 still ; throw off little offshoots, perhaps, and send out a runner 

 or two, and remain in that way, and this blight will come out 

 in spots over the leaves ; and where that prevails to any consid- 

 erable extent the crop will be pretty much a failure. I do not 

 know of any remedy. I have seen it in Belmont, where the 

 Wilson has received the very best cultivation, and I have seen 



