Annual Meeting at St. Josejjh. 133 



The best time to set strawberries m this latitude is March, 

 April and May and September, October, i^ovember and December. 

 Do not set too early in fall, as the plant should be well matured be- 

 fore being set. The season can be lengthened by setting early var- 

 ieties in light, sandy soil and on south or southeast hill side. For 

 late varieties and late croj) on north hill side on heavy soil; and if 

 jou want very late crops pick oif all fruit stems as fast as they ap- 

 pear ; keep the plants well watered and mulched and we are almost 

 certain of a fair crop in September and October. I prefer the 

 matted row system ; rows four feet apart, plants in rows eight to 

 twelve inches, keep clean with hoe and cultivator, train the run- 

 ners along the rows as they grow out, and they will soon form a 

 matted row; keep the runners within twenty-four inches ; this can 

 be done by keeping the cultivator or plow going between the rows. 



Mulching is very beneficial when freezing weather sets in. All 

 have rotten straw or clean hay, clear of seeds, but I prefer coarse 

 stable manure ; the winter rains and light snows will carry down 

 into the ground all the strength of the manure ; answering as a 

 mulch in the spring, keeping the ground moist and . the berries 

 clean. 



In spring, if the mulching is over one-half an inch thick, it 

 must be loosened, or some of it raked off. * 



With spring set plants that were well matted, I have been very 

 successful without mulching, and mulch only the middles to keep 

 outside berries clean, and also for the benefit of pickers. A late 

 growth of crab grass will not injure berries and will answer for a 

 mulch. 



Raspberries follow strawberries. This season we had straw- 

 berries and early raspberries for two weeks every meal at the table. 

 The raspberry can be grown with less work than corn. After the 

 first year this fruit is also very profitable to dry, and can and then 

 be kept until prices suit, but not as many varieties adapt them- 

 selves to our soil and climate as strawberries. Time to set is in the 

 fall, after the first light frosts, until the plants are four or five 

 inches high in spring. 



Set the plants a little deeper than they were in the nursery, 

 but with roots down straight and sj^read out fan-shaped ; make the 

 hole with a paddle three inches Avide, press groundto.it; set like 

 strawberries ; ground for all kinds of fruits should be subsoiled. 

 I prefer subsoiling to double plowing. 



I plant black-cap raspberries seven feet apart and two feet apart 

 in the rows. Eeds, six feet apart and ten to fifteen inches apart in 



