CURRANTS BY THE MARKET GARDENER. 127 



are put in one-third deeper into the ground, and, therefore, you 

 get a bigger bush right away. If you have got a large spade 

 and a boy to assist you, you insert j'-our spade into the ground, 

 move the soil and put in your plant, and then let the soil drop 

 down again, and your planting will be just as satisfactory as 

 ^ny way you can do it. 



Mr. Harris: What age plants do you use? 



Mr. Yahnke: I use nothing but first-class plants one and 

 two years old. I raise them myself from cuttings. I heel them 

 in and then plant them just as soon as I take them out of the 

 ground. I do not like to expose the roots of any plant to the 

 air or sun any longer than necessary, no matter whether it is 

 a fruit tree or a cabbage plant. 



The President: How do you explain this difference in regard 

 to the same varieties? Do you think they should have a clay 

 soil? 



Mr. Yahnke: My experience is that they do better on sandy 

 loam than on clay soil. I think they have a sweeter taste, and 

 the sweeter the taste the higher price you will get for them. 



Mr. Barnes, (Wis.): You can arrive at a happy medium by 

 planting on a sandy soil with a clay subsoil. 



The President: Why a clay subsoil? 



Mr. Barnes: They will fruit later and stand more drouth. 



The. President: Is not this the whole point, that there is 

 more moisture furnished? 



Mr. Yahnke: That's it; there is more moisture. 



Mr. Barnes: A sandy surface soil gives the fruit a better 

 flavor. 



Mr. Wheaton: I would like to say a word in regard to the care and 

 cultivation of currants. I am quite busy at the weedy time of the 

 year, so I use strawy manure to cover the whole surface over. I 

 -would like to hear the experience of others in regard to cultivating 

 by covering with straw. 



Mr. Busse: I like the mulching very much, but during a number 

 of years I have found that the roots grow too near the surface, and 

 after three or four years the roots will be on top of the ground. 



Mr. Yahnke: I have tried mulching, and have tried cultivation, 

 but I like better to mulch with a layer of manure. It keeps the 

 g^round in better condition and keeps the roots more in the ground. 

 By heavy mulching with straw the roots get too near the surface, 

 and in a hard winter or dry summer they will be injured. I like to 

 mulch with chip manure we get on the wood pile. 



Prof. Lugger: Whenever and wherever you have saw flies, you 

 ehould not mulch plants. 



Mr. T. T. Smith: Is there any advantage in mulching with coal 



