18 ANNUAL REPOKT 



quaintance with the birds and insects and can distinguish between his friends and 

 foes and keep each in their proper place. Tlie world will honor him and a beneficent 

 Creator smile upon him. 



M. Pearce of Miiinetoiika Fruit Farm, read the following paper on 



STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 



A good location, with the right kind of soil, under the management of an ex- 

 perienced strawberry grower, and we seldom need have a failure, with the varieties 

 he is acquainted with. So much has been written and said on strawberry culture, 

 that there is no excuse for ignorance in this important branch or horticulture. 

 Nevertheless, with all the light that has been thrown on the subject, I do not think 

 there is one individual out of twenty who tills the soil for a living, who is competent 

 to select location, fit the soil, and make proper selections of varieties and arrange 

 them as they should be on the ground, so that a good yield of large and delicious 

 fruit could be expected. 



Much care aud judgment must be exercised in selecting soil and location to grow 

 strawberries. It should be as free from frost as possible, level, to prevent washing, 

 and easy to cultivate; should be new, of a rich, sandy loam or leaf mold, which is 

 better than side hills. Knolls of all description, bleak places where the snow blows 

 off in the winter should be avoided. 



The soil must be rich to very rich, depending on what varities are to be grown, as 

 there are but few varieties, if any, when rightly understood, that require the same 

 richness of soil. 



In all cases the ground should be plowed deep and sub-soiled if possible. When 

 but one or two varieties are to be grown, such as the Wilson or Downer, it is not a 

 hard matter to fit a piece of new ground or clover sod on which either do well. But 

 if it is your intention to grow large quantities of the largest and best varieties lor 

 market, such as will sell at sight in an overstocked market, at the highest market 

 price, quite a different course must be pursued. To accomplish this, we will sup- 

 pose a proper location and soil has been selected, plowed and harrowed level, suf- 

 ficiently rich to grow an average crop of corn. 



Make a plat of the land thus prepared on paper, marking it off in rows repre- 

 senting four feet apart, numbering each row commencing with No. 1, 2, and so on, 

 till all are numbered. We then select our varieties, an equal number of pistillate and 

 hermaphrodite. In making these selections it is absolutely necessary that the in- 

 dividual be well acquainted with each variety, or have it from those of good author- 

 ity. We test the vigor of plants on soil that will grow an average crop of corn 

 usually without manure. Thus we will take the Glendale, vigorous 1, hardy 1,. 

 prolific 1, quality 1, size 1, shipping qualities 2, a very good fertilizer 1, scores 8. 

 Crescent Seedling, very vigorous 2, veryhardy 2, wonderfully prolific 3, size goodl, 

 quality good 1, sells well 1, scores 10. In this way we select the varieties we plant, 

 using those that score the most good points. According to our method, the follow- 

 ing varieties score as follows: Sharpless 10, Wilson 6, Capt. Jack Q}-2, Seth Boyden 

 8, Col. Cheney 8, Charles Downing 8, Winsor Chief 8, Pioneer, or King of the North 

 10, Downer's Prolific 5, Green's Prolific 6, Prouty's Seedling 7, Hart's Seedling 6. 



