42 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



exhausted, loosing much of its vitality and the young plants from sucb 

 parents, having a poor stock to draw from, are dwarfed and as a result 

 the fruit in turn is dwarfed or of inferior size and quality. A succes- 

 sion for a number of years of taking plants from wornout beds will 

 run them out until they will be worthless. This accounts for the com- 

 plaint we often hear of: "Well, I set a new patch, but it don't bear 

 like the old one did when I first set it." No; and if they will set ji 

 third patch from the second, after it has borne two or three crops, 

 they will notice that they are not quite so good as the second and not 

 near so good as the first. 



As most all berry growers, and I believe all nurserymen advo- 

 cate the setting plants as early in spring as the ground will do to work, 

 perhaps I might right here give the reason this should not be done, 

 and why we should wait until we can easily pinch out the bloom at the 

 time of setting. That we may be understood, let us suppose that 

 plants are capable of reasoning. When it wakes up in the spring, after 

 its long winter nap, it starts out with the idea of trying to reproduce 

 itself through its seed in the berry, it takes in the situation and sees 

 that it has a firm footing, well rooted and at once begins to push its 

 bloom above the ground and to open to catch the kiss of the morning 

 sun, that it may be cherished and ripened, the seed fall to mother earth,, 

 catch and in turn produce a counterpart. Take up this plant, just as 

 it has awakened, set it out and that same idea is in its little head, pay 

 ing no attention to its footing, and by the time the bloom is where you 

 can get it off hand, its poor little feet have grown weak, and it stands 

 trembling in its new shoes, but let it stand in its old shoes until this 

 time, then put it in a new pair, pinch out its bloom, and you have at 

 once changed its whole pians. The next best thing it can »io is to 

 plant its feet firmly in the soil and try to reproduce itself by sending 

 out runners and producing plants direct. The result is fewer plants 

 die and a better growth in the early part of the season. 



I believe that all understand that plants must be kept well culti- 

 vated, that no weeds or grass must be allowed to grow, and that it 

 takes frequent and thorough stirring of the soil to keep them back, for 

 if neglected for a time when plants are setting, the work become tedi- 

 ous and laborious, aa the runner extends from the new to the parent 

 plants. This brings us to the point of cutting the runners, and although 

 I almost stand alone, let me enter my protest against early cutting. 

 Let the early runners grow and set plants until, if cultivated in mat- 

 ted row, the row is thick enough, or, if under the hill system, the hill 

 is full enough, then cut off all after runners the balance of the season.. 



