Summer Meeti7ig. 55 



For summer apples : Red June, Early Harvest, Sweet June, Mai- 

 den Blush and Grimes Golden. I have tested one hundred varie- 

 ties of strawberries. It was no failure, as it required only one 

 year to learn the sorts best adapted to my soil and climate. One 

 hundred miles west of Arkansas and thirty west of Kansas some 

 varieties that were best twenty-five years ago are now doubled in 

 value by newer varieties. 



Raspberries, as I read at our last State meeting at Kansas 

 City, we have now varieties that more than double the sorts we grew 

 twenty-five years ago. Blackberries are not much to boast of. 

 Twelve years ago I raised over two thousand bushels. Sixteen years 

 ago I offered any one a dollar who could find rust in my patch. 

 But of late years the rust has killed my money-maker, the Kitta- 

 tinny, and I had to plow up the patch. Early Harvest I have to 

 watch, and as soon as rust appears dig the affected part up. Sny- 

 der, Taylor, Prolific and Mountain Green have shown no rust yet. 

 Blackberries yield best on moist land. Raspberries require dry 

 ground. Strawberries grow on almost any ground if rich and 

 fertile. I plant early sorts on dry, sandy land, south slope, and 

 late varieties on heavy or wet ground. Thus I lengthen the season 

 about twelve days under favorable conditions. Cherry trees suc- 

 ceed best on dry land. Mulberries will save the cherries from 

 birds as they ripen during the cherry season. 



We have about twenty-five hens that feed under our mulberry 

 tree. Plum trees will grow on ground too wet for any other kind 

 of fruit trees and should be planted in the poultry yard. I would 

 rather have one plum tree in reach of the hens than ten out of their 

 range. 



Pear Blight. — ^I have made mistakes planting pear trees on rich 

 land and cultivating after two years old. I cultivate two years 

 only ; after that I cut the weeds from around and scatter wood ashes 

 as far as limbs extend. In early spring scatter from one to two 

 pints of salt, owing to size of tree. It is a mistake to plant trees 

 late in spring when they begin to leaf out. Plant trees early in the 

 spring or late in the fall or winter, when the ground is not frozen. 

 Bank dirt around the tree to be leveled back in early spring. I 

 have experimented by planting trees one to four years old. The 

 best age to plant apple trees is one to two years. Budded fruit, 

 such as peaches, plums and cherries, one year from the bud. Trim 

 trees every year, but very little where pruning is done at all. Too 

 much is often done in one season. Cut out early limbs that will 

 cross each other and what nature stands to shed. I seldom lose a 



