268 STATE BOAED OF AGEICULTUKE. 



ties of onr Peninsular State, to this meeting, trusting that you will feel at 

 home with us, take part in our deliberatio}is, giving us your experience in mat- 

 ters that interest us alike, and as you leave us, feel that it has been time 

 profitably spent. And to 3'ou, Mr. President and geutlemen of the Faculty of 

 the State Agricultural College, we welcome you to our county as the representa- 

 tives of the first Agricultural College in America ; we welcome you for the 

 marked reputation you have attained in this and other States in applying the 

 science of the schools to the routine labors of tlie farm ; we welcome you be- 

 cause of the anticipation we cherish that we are to draw practical and lasting 

 benefits from the thoughts and ideas advanced by you, and, lastly, we welcome 

 you as the representatives of a practical education designed especially for the 

 sons of farmers, fitting them more efficiently for after duties in life. 



President T. C. Abbot spoke on "Schools of Agriculture,'' and Secretary 

 Baird on the "Farmer's Home." See lectures and addresses at the close of 

 this record of the Institutes. 



Mr. S. N. Betts, of Adams, read a paper on " Swine and their profits." 

 Manuscript not furnished. 



The following paper by W. H. Eeynolds was read on 



''the cultuee of small fruits." 



The first thing to consider in the planting of small fruits is, in our opinion, 

 to select a spot of gi'ound the drainage of which is well provided for in nature. 

 We think the quality of soil de2')ends very much upon the variety of fruit desira- 

 ble to put upon it. Perhaps there is no one item in the whole catalogue of 

 small fruit culture as much neglected as the cultivation of strawberries. This 

 is partially through ignorance, for how frequently do we see that the selection 

 made for the strawberry patch is in some by-place, or where the soil is too hard 

 to cultivate for garden purposes, and a few plants put out here and there, with- 

 out form or order, are left for some boy to tend. He does so by pulling a few 

 of the larger weeds now and then, or, per chance, his youthful ambition is 

 excited to the extent that he seizes the hoe and labors desperately for a time, 

 but the ground is too hard for his strength. He is soon tired and discouraged, 

 and thus ends the cultivation of the strawberries, and with disappointment the 

 proprietor looks for a crop and concludes it don' t pay, when the truth is the 

 vines have been robbed by the weeds and drouth of the moisture necessary tO' 

 their growth ; while, on the contrary, the selection for the strawberry should be 

 a good, arable jjiecc of ground, easy of access, with a sufficient amount of com- 

 post applied as to thoroughly enrich it. Then it should be spaded or ploughed 

 thoroughl}', pulverizing to the depth of ten inches. The plants should be of 

 different varieties, so that no doubt will exist as to their fertilization. They 

 should be planted at least two feet apart in rows, and if the rows are piit four 

 feet apart, the larger part of the labor for the cultivation the first summer may 

 be done with a horse and cultivator. About the time the ground freezes in the 

 fall they should be covered with a good coA'cring of coarse straw to protect them 

 through the winter, and this may be left, by opening a place for the plants to 

 grow through in the spring, to protect the ground in case of drouth and keep 

 the weeds down until the crop is secured. This will be of benefit also in ine- 

 serving the fruit from injury by the dirt. With this care our expectations will 

 be more than realized. 



In conversation upon this subject with the late Peter Strunk, of this j^lace, 

 he said that in the season of 1875 he sold $250 worth of fruit from less than 

 one-half acre of ground. 



