Winter Meeting. 375 



It is then best to set fire to the mulch, in the middles, before the old 

 leaves dry, to avoid injury to the plants by too great a fire. After burn- 

 ing, bar off v^ith a seven-inch plow, leaving the old row about eight 

 inches wide. Harrow both ways with a sharp smoothing harrow. 

 Make the ground perfectly level. In a short time the plants will begin to 

 put out new leaves, when cultivation should begin. Cultivate thor- 

 oughly. Pull out all large weeds. Train your row to be about as wide 

 as for a new field. If well cared for, we usually get the largest yield 

 the second year. Three fruiting seasons is usually the limit for a pay- 

 ing crop. 



By following this method you ought to be rewarded with a yield 

 of from 150 to 300 crates of well-colored berries, ninety per cent, of 

 which ought to grade fancy, provided the fruiting season is right. 



STRAWBERRIES. 



(By .T. F. McNallle, Sarcoxie, Mo.) 



We believe it has been truthfully said that the natural advantages 

 of the soil in the Ozarks is as perfect, if not the most perfect, for 

 growing strawberries, without any assistance by artificial means, of 

 any place in the United States. Over one hundred train loads, of eight 

 cars each, were shipped from this district during the season of 1905. 



The town where we have attended strawberry school for the last 

 twelve years is Sarcoxie, Mo. This was the first place in the Ozarks 

 to ship strawberries in car lots, and can rightly be called the mother of 

 all the strawberry towns in Northern Arkansas and Southern Missouri. 

 Twelve hundred and fifty cars, of an average of 540 twenty-four-quart 

 crates each, have been shipped from Sarcoxie in the last ten years, and 

 the growers there have received over $1,000,000 net for that small, red 

 fruit, that is said to be composed of ninety-six parts water and four 

 parts coloring, but is relished by all mankind. 



Since our connection with the growing of strawberries, probably 

 200 different varieties have come under our observation. All of them 

 have had more or less good points, and nearly all of them have had 

 more or less imperfections. They say there is nothing perfect, and 

 we have not yet seen the ideal strawberry. Each variety has its indi- 

 vidual characteristics, and the study of the different varieties of straw- 

 berries is almost as interesting as the study of the different individuals 

 of the human family. 



