46 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



a perfect bloom, and he said he didn't know whether they did or not, 

 as he never paid much attention to the bloom. 



The best fertilizer I have found for the Crescent is the Mitchell's 

 Early ; some will hoot at the idea of a Mitchell's Early for a fertilizer, 

 but I have made more money out of the Mitchell's Early than any 

 berry I ever worked with. About four years ago I planted two acres 

 and a half, and I was short of plants. I went into a patch that was 

 Mitchell's Early, Cresent and Sharpless ; they had been planted in 

 rows, but were matted pretty well together, and we put out about two 

 and one-fourth acres of them, and we got them mixed ; it was an average 

 of about four Mitchell's Early and one Cresent and now and then a 

 Sharpless. We put them out just as we took them up, and after we 

 got all the Mitchell's Early planted we had not quite enough, so we 

 got the Crescent and planted four rows across the field ; where I 

 planted one Cresent to about four Mitchell's Early they begun to bear 

 the next >ear, and I found that those Mitchell's Early were the best 

 Mitchell's Early I ever picked, and I had been using them three or 

 four years before that ; then it was about a week until the Crescent 

 begun to ripen ; just as the Mitchell's Early commenced to go down 

 the Crescent came in and kept up my picking, and in the same patch 

 we kept our picking up for about four weeks, and I had the best 

 Crescents I ever saw, and at the end of the picking, about four weeks, 

 I found a great many blooms on the Mitchell Early vines at that time 

 and now and then that had been picked off of for four weeks, and they 

 were as large as a hickory nut, and I did not find a blighted berry 

 among the Crescent, and I did not find any of the Mitchell's Early 

 that were imperfect, and I believe the Cresent is one of the best berries 

 we have, if it is properly fertilized, and the Mitchell's Early is one of 

 the best fertilizers I ever tried, and I have seen them bloom every 

 month in the year except January. That is, of course, in a wet year. 

 I like the plan of mixing them up all over the field promiscuously. If 

 I want the most Cresent, I would put about two-thirds Cresent and 

 one-third Mitchell's Early for a good crop ; I have taken men in there 

 just to see my Crescents ; they would be terribly opposed to Crescents, 

 and I would take them in just to show my large, fine Crescents. We 

 commenced to pick about the 20th of April the Mitchell's Early, and it 

 was about the first of May before we begun on the Crescent, and for 

 four weeks we picked right there in that patch, and I do not know that 

 I have seen an imperfect Crescent this season. 



By Mr. Gilbert — I do not live very far from Mr. H. but I cannot 

 grow Mitchell's Early; I have tried for two years and I believe if anyone 

 wants to go into bankruptcy they ought to plant Mitchell's Early. 



