THE BEST STBAWBERRY IN EXISTENCE. 38 1 



of a box of Livingston strawberries sent him June 2^, 1902, and 

 this is what he says : 



''Friend Livingston : The box of strawberries reached me in 

 fine condition and were admired by the local growers. They stood 

 shipment as well as Warfield and are first-class in color and flavor, 

 I thought them rather sour but found they were all right on the 

 table with the addition of sugar and cream, and ate the whole of 

 them for my supper. If they prove a good plant-maker and pol- 

 lenizer and prolific bearer you have the best strawberry in existence 

 aside from the Warfield." 



Great Scott ! Nearing the close of a harvest of over 32,000 boxes 

 of strawberries, and on June 27th, when the appetite had been 

 satiated with berries until the sweetest fruit tasted sour, Brother 

 Harris says that he sat down and ate the whole of the box of Liv- 

 ingston strawberries, with sugar and cream, for his supper and pro- 

 nounced them "The Best Strawberry- in Existence" except his pet, 

 the Warfield. How fortunate that it was not a bushel instead of 

 a quart, or we might have been, ere this, face to face with Brother 

 Harris' obituary. 



What the Livingston strawberry may continue to do for me, 

 or what it may do, on other soils and locations, for others, I am 

 unable to say ; time and trial alone can tell. 



Note. — In a recent letter speaking of this berry Mr. Livingston 

 says, its "weak point this year is it rusts quite badly." — Sec'y. 



BENEFITS OF TOP-WORKING. 



F. W. KIMBALL^ AUSTIN. 



(So. Minn. Hort. Soc'y-) 



I am asked to write of the benefits of top-working. I expect 

 most will think the story can be told in a few words, yet it is 

 worthy of much thought and attention. It seems that our trouble 

 in raising a winter apple in this climate comes largely through in- 

 ability of the tree, after ripening its fruit, to husband enough en- 

 ergy-, as it might be termed, to carry it through a hard winter. Thus 

 we have this condition confronting us : a large crop of apples 

 and a hard winter following, with the probability of no live tree in 

 the spring, or, at least, one greatly debilitated. It is no sufficient 

 proof of the hardiness of a tree that it has stood hard winters and 

 borne a little fruit each year. The test is, the tree full of fruit and 

 the following hard winter: if the tree is equal to this then we have 

 the hardy winter apple. 



Now what do we want to do to approximate this condition as 

 near as possible? Examine a half-hardy tree the year after bearing 



