110 ANinJAL REPORT. 



with me. Berries large, but few of them. Seth Boyden,s No. 30 

 I find to be the best in qaulity of the large berries, but cannot 

 afford to raise it for market. Downer's Prolific is excellent for the 

 table. Kentucky being a late berry is good to prolong the season 

 of the stravrberry. Capt. Jack is not prolific, will not yield more 

 than half as much as Wilson; neither will any other except the 

 Crescent — Crescent will give fruit with little cultivating, but Wil- 

 son is best of all, My soil is sandy loam, but very rich. Wilson 

 yields 200 bushels per acre as a fair crop, 300 bushels would be a 

 large crop. Have raised that many. 



Secretary Gibbs. Mr. Smith, my reputation for veracity, 

 or the accuracy of my memory is in question at this time. I stated 

 last evening after the reading of Mr. Kellogg's paper that J. M. 

 Smith, of Green Bay, President of the Wisconsin Horticultural 

 Society, has raised the Wilson Strawberry at the rate of nearly 

 450 bushels to the acre. If that is not true, will you please to 

 deny it? 



Mr. Smith. I did pick in 1875 3,571 quarts on one-fourth of au 

 acre. This is at the rate of 446i bushels to the acre. 



The Secretary. I trust anything I may say hereafter will be be- 

 lieved. 



Mr. Smith. I always water in dry weather. Pump the water 

 with a wind mill, hold it in tanks, carry it through the fields in 

 iron pipes laid on the surface of the ground, and distribute with a 

 hose. My facilities are not sufficient. It takes 1,000 barrels of 

 water to irrigate thirteen acres. 



The Secretary read the following letter from Mr. Stickney on 

 Strawberry irrigation: 



Milwaukee Pickle Company, ) 

 Wauwatosa, Wis., Dec. 28, 1882. ) 



Oliver Gihbs, Jr. : 



Dear Sir: Yours of 16th inst. duly received, and I would cheer- 

 fully respond to your request, had I any real experience to offer? 

 All I might write would be only theory and with that people are 

 already familiar. Since we have had water so abundant, the clouds 

 have given us very seasonable moisture, leaving little necessity for 

 irrigating. We commenced last summer on strawberries about 

 half one patch, rather in advance of the drouth, but before there 

 was any real suffering, we had abundant rains, continuing through 

 the season, so that no marked results could appear. 



On stiff clay soils, like all of ours here, there must be a thorough 

 system of underdrains before irrigation can be successfully prac- 

 tised. On much of your soil it would be less needful. I have two 



