THE ANNUAL MEETING. 113 



Of course we resorted to watering in a crude way by means contrived hurriedly, 

 but wliich I found to work witli great satisfaction, and tlioroiiglily convinced 

 me that sooner or later those who will succeed best with strawberries, either on 

 a large or small scale, m.\\ have to resort to irrigation. It is the only way to 

 insure maximum crops every year. We applied the water with an ordinary 

 street sprinkling cart, applying 800 gallons of water to beds 400 feet long and 

 five feet wide twice a week during the picking season. There was a trifle over 

 two acres of the strawberry ground which it was impossible to get at with the 

 watering cart, and on this spot the crop was nearly a failure. The first pick- 

 ing on the beds where no water was applied was fair to middling, but the last 

 pickings amounted to nothing. My experience with watering was so satisfac- 

 tory that in the course of another year I will have my plans matured so that 

 I can apply water to the bearing beds at any time during the picking season. 

 There is no doubt in my mind that those who desire to realize the largest re- 

 sults from strawberry growing will have to resort to irrigation. There have 

 been some statements, which found their way in print, saying that strawberries 

 grown in this way are too soft for the market. This is contrary to my experi- 

 ence last year." 



On the same topic I quote from Dr. F. M. Hexamer, of New York : 



"Irrigation is of great importance, not only in the cultivation of the straw- 

 berry, but in any culture. I have observed this year thousands upon thousands 

 of acres that could be irrigated with no expense worth speaking of, say $5 per 

 acre. We go to work and put $10 or $20 worth of fertilizers on our land, and 

 as much more in cultivation and labor, and because we do not invest another 

 $5 in labor we lose it all. We must have irrigation in this country. Our sea- 

 sons are too changeable. In a large part of Europe it is not necessary, but 

 here we are forced to it. We can no more afford to run the risk of our crops 

 burning up than the manufacturer could afford to run the risk of losing his 

 power. We cannot irrigate all of our land, but we can irrigate more than we 

 do now." 



Mr. Taylor: Cultivation has a great deal to do in "tiding over" a dry time. 

 Many of our people urge that cultivation should stop in midsummer, that the 

 wood may become thoroughly ripened in preparation for winter. I think a 

 rule of this sort is not good to abide by ; oftentimes, if cultivation stops early 

 and in the midst of a drouth, the wood stops growing and the buds arrange for 

 winter too early, insomuch that when fall rains come on they mistake the 

 season and put forth a new growth, which is disastrous to the trees. My con- 

 viction is that cultivation should be continued through the dry time, even 

 although it may carry one into the last of August. The weeds got the start of 

 me this season in some of my orcharding and I had quite a crop to plow under 

 in tlie dry weather, and I am satisfied that in the decay of this growth I re- 

 ceived just what was most required by the trees in the midst of a drought. 



A. S. Dyckman, South Haven: I believe emphatically'in cultivation, and 

 would not forego early culture in order to cultivate through a drought, but 

 would begin early, say in April, and continue through the dry season, even to 

 the middle of August, if rain did not fall in abundance. I believe irrigation is 

 practicable in this country as truly as in Colorado or California. In the latter 

 State I found the water used for irrigation was nearly always raised from the 

 streams by power, and we can do the same thing. We have the water in abun- 

 dance in our lakes, rivers, and wells. Certainly if the Californians can make 

 money by pumping up water and spreading it over the land, we can. 

 15 



