376 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. , 



sprightly flavor, and good enough when well ripened in the house. Of 

 strawberries we grow many varieties. The first choice for profit being 

 the Crescent seedling with Miner's prolific for a fertilizer, though some 

 prefer the Crystal City, which undoubtedly is a good fertilizer, but its 

 only redeeming quality. The Glendale, Cumberland, Downing and 

 Sharpless are also favorably mentioned of the well-tried varieties. Of 

 the newer varieties the Jessie is probably the most generally indorsed, 

 with Bubach and Belmont close up. But the Warfield, Haverland, 

 Cloud, Monmouth and Speece's Perfection are looming up and it is 

 among these is the coming market berry, and I believe its name will be 

 "Warfield. 



Our culture is the matted row, sometimes matted with weeds, but 

 when our growers do the best they know how they insist on the weeds 

 growing over the fence on someone else's land. Old patches are shifted 

 one-half the width of the row ; by this system berries can be grown on 

 the same ground indefinitely. Excessive manuring is not considered 

 beneficial, and the day is coming when it will not pay to expend forty or 

 even twenty-five dollars onanacre of ground manuring it, because that 

 much money will buy one or more acres of virgin land, and there are mil- 

 lions of such acres in Missouri capable of producing at least one hun- 

 dred bushels per acre, audit would be hogish to ask more; this is men- 

 tioned because small fruitgrowers, as a rule, cluster around the towns,, 

 and very foolishly pay as much for a patch of five acres as they would 

 have to pay for forty acres a few miles out. They think this is necessary 

 because they must have manure, but with more latitude and by plowing 

 under green crops they can fertilize cheaper than in any other way. 



Of raspberries, we grow principally the black caps for market, 

 with choice lying about even between the Souhegan and Gregg. Cul- 

 ture consists in requiring the weeds to grow somewhere else. Canes 

 are topped at about two feet to get a strong lateral growth, both for 

 productiveness and the necessary shade to the main stem. 



This culture is identical with that recommended for the blackberry, 

 except canes are topped at three to four feet. The Kittitinny is the 

 favorite variety — is good enough — Snyder and Early Harvest have 

 some friends, but generally they are not profitable. Gooseberries bear 

 about four times as much fruit as they ought to do, considering the 

 care received, and always sell for fair prices. Currants wont stand the 

 treatment received and refuse to respond to neglect — scarcely any seen 

 in market. 



