FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 339 



HOW TO PLANT AND GROW STRAWBERRIES. 



D. E. HOUK, AT MASON COUNTY INSTITUTE. 



A good crop of strawberries can be grown on almost any kind of good soil from 

 sand to muck, if there is good underground and air drainage. Preparation of the 

 soil should commence the summer before setting. You can get strawberries after 

 almost any farm crop, potatoes being preferred as they leave no stubble. Plow 

 the ground as soon as the crop is harvested. Harrow a few times before winter, 

 then plov/ again in the spring and plow deep. Harrow until all is pulverized, make 

 smooth with a float, mark both ways as far apart as you wish to set the plants. We 

 set three feet each way as it gives room to cultivate both ways for the first season. 

 In setting the plants we use a common short-handled spade for making the holes, 

 then place the plants in the holes, step firmly on one side and the plant is set. 



POTATO CULTURE. 



T. A. DIKEMAN, HART, AT OCEANA COUNTY INSTITUTE. 



Fall plowing I think is preferable, but if not practicable, plow as early in the 

 spring as possible unless you have rye to turn under. Then I would leave it until 

 about ready to head, when I would plow deep and follow with the harrow strip by 

 strip until the field is finished. Harrow until the soil is fine and all grass and 

 weeds are well subdued. I still prefer planting in wide rows, about three feet 

 nine inches north and south, and two feet six inches east and west. It saves time 

 in cultivating, and I am satisfied that the potatoes will stand the hot winds and 

 dry weather better. It admits of later cultivation without disturbing the heavy 

 vines, a thing which is very important. I cultivate deep and close to the young 

 plants, and very shallow late in the season. This cultivation should be done about 

 once a week for eight or ten weeks, weeds or no weeds. 



WOMAN'S INFLUENCE. 



MRS. MARY ROBERTSON, HESPERIA, AT NEWAYGO COUNTY INSTITUTE. 



But the sweetest name in all the earth is mother, and the dearest spot is home; 

 and may God help the man, woman or child who has neither. The mother is the 

 presiding genius, the queen of love and beauty; and home is what she makes it; 

 and the spell she casts around her, whether it be for good or evil, is lasting for all 

 time. Napoleon says the future destiny of a child is always with the mother; that 

 is probably what sent him to St. Helena. The overthrow of nations has been 

 traced back to the evil influence of mothers. Catherine De Medici was the insti- 

 gator of one of the direst deeds ever known in history, the massacre of St. Bar- 

 tholomew. Benjamin West said that his mother's kiss made him a painter. The 

 gentle mother of Robert Burns imbued her spirit into her young son by telling 

 him the traditions of her country while seated at her wheel. That spirit bursts 

 forth in the beautiful songs that have made so much music for the world. It has 

 been said that home is where the heart is. The sailor as he paces the deck at mid- 

 night, listening to the ceaseless splash of the waters, and the creaking cordage, in 

 fancy sees the image of loved ones, and the little cot by the shore passes through 

 his vision. And many a silent prayer has gone up to the throne of Grace, as the 

 tears coursed down the bronzed cheek, that the bark would anchor safely in the 

 harbor of home. Children, prize your home. Mothers, live such lives that your 

 influence will shed a lustre that time will never dim, so that when your tired hands 



