92 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Q: Will the variety used for fertilizing affect the size or quality of 

 the berries? 



Mr. Kellogg: That is a question that has been disputed. I believe 

 that congeniality in plants is as effective as in animals. There is no way 

 of determining the variety that would secure the best development. As 

 to flavor and size, I am not prepared to say that it would secure it any 

 further than if the potency of the pollen was high. Some experiments 

 have been conducted in this line, and it has been attempted to prove that 

 it does make a great difference; I believe it depends on the potency of the 

 pollen as to the development of the fruit, and that the particular variety 

 cuts very little figure. This is only a matter of opinion, however; the 

 question is not definitely settled, and it has been discussed for twenty 

 years. 



Mr. Wilde: Mr. Kellogg has given us an excellent paper, but I appre- 

 hend that quite a large proportion of this audience are farmers. Taking 

 his paper as a whole, they may think it is a little intricate for them to 

 grow berries successfully. I wish to throw in a word for their encour- 

 agement. I have grown strawberries for market for twenty-five years, 

 and I believe the way to obtain the best results is to plant a new plat 

 every spring; set the plants as early as you can, and cut off the blossoms, 

 or the buds before they blossom, then allow them to run in rows, not 

 allowing the row to become over a foot wide; make a new plat every 

 spring, and plow up the fruiting plat every spring. 



It is all important to have the best fruit in order to hold your reputa- 

 tion, and nothing will do it like having a new bed every season, and you 

 can do that with less work, by setting a new bed, and not attempt to pick 

 but one crop from a setting. 



Q: How early do you plant? 



Mr. Wilde: Just as early as you can put the plants in the ground. As 

 soon as the plants begin to grow and new rootlets shoot out. 



Mr. Wilde: What does Mr. Kellogg mean when he says to plant from 

 those which have not borne fruit? Does he mean that some people do 

 plant after berries have been raised? 



Mr. Kellogg : If you have the correspondence I have, you will find that 

 nine-tenths of the people fruit their strawberries three years and then 

 take out the runners. I can see that in this audience, it was hardly 

 necessary to give this precaution, and yet all over the country they are 

 doing it. After fruiting seven or eight years they will take plants from 

 them, and farmers have come to my house and wanted to get plants out of 

 my bed, when I was going to plough it up. Of course advanced straw- 

 berry growers don't do it. As Mr. Stearns says, you want to take new 

 plants that have not borne fruit. For instance, you set plants last 

 spring; you took the blossoms off; take up the runners from them and set 

 a new bed; pick the blossoms off, and then let them fruit the first year 

 after you set them out. That is what we call plants that have not borne 

 fruit; that have been kept continually restricted. 



