104 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



In Nebraska our dry Falls are the worst enemies of the berry- 

 grower, and unless your ground is in good tilth, so the plants 

 can make a strong Pall growth, they will go into winter weak 

 and may die before Spring, or they will not have vitality enough 

 to send up strong fruit stalks. Two or three cultivations in 

 September, especially in a dry Fall, will increase your yield of 

 berries the next June. , 



Mulching. — The object of mulching is to retain moisture, 

 keep down weeds and keep your berries clean, but do not mulch 

 to keep the i^lants from freezing out. Mulch in the fall not to 

 exceed two inches deep, and remove the mulch from the plants 

 early in the Spring, leaving it in the middle of the rows. If the 

 mulch is left on in the Spring until growth starts and the plants 

 turn white, you have injured your berry prospects. Fruit is a 

 natural summer diet of the human race. I have attempted to 

 grow everything in the catalogue for family use but find the 

 strawberry the easiest grown of any, and as it is the first to 

 ripen in the Spring we can not afford to be without it for the 

 family. Then, too, by forcing them to lie dormant awhile, Dun- 

 laps, Warfields and Bederwood and a few other varieties may 

 be made to bear a Fall crop and greatly lengthen the straw- 

 berry season. 



By the use of early and late varieties the strawberry season 

 has been extended several weeks, and with a little extra work 

 in 1903 we were able to pick berries for seven months. The 

 ever-bearing varieties succeed in Oregon and California, but in 

 Nebraska they will not produce enough berries. Spring or Fall, 

 to pay for the plants. 



GARDENING IN AURORA. 



BY H. G. CASS. 



Mr. Chairman: Some one has expressed the opinion that 

 gardening is a calling that no matter how high the social stand- 

 ing of a man may be, is not disgraced thereby. If we look back 

 to the first start of gardening, we shall form some idea of its 

 importance. We are told in holy writ that after God had created 



