SOILS ADAPTED TO STRAWBERRIES. 101 



Mr. Danforth: Our best success has been on the heaviest 

 soil. It is a clay subsoil, with probably a foot of loam on top, 

 while on our sandy soil, with no clay subsoil, we raise a crop 

 every other year, or at best a very light crop. 



Mrs. A. A. Kennedy : I planted one strawberry bed on a 

 north slope, and this year I planted one on a south slope, and 

 the one I planted on the south slope was as much nicer than the 

 first one as you can imagine. The first one did not have the 

 moisture, and the other one did. 



Mr. Crandall: What kind of soil? 



Mrs. Kennedy: Black, sandy soil, with a clay subsoil in both 

 places. 



Mr. A. H. Brackett: I wish to ask if any one has had any 

 success with strawberries in the regular peat marsh? 



Pres. Underwood: Mr. Richardson spoke of a drained 

 slough. 



Mr. Brackett: But I mean regular peat soil. 



Mr. C. W. Sampson : I ran across a man the other day in my 

 travels who raised berries in a marsh. He said the soil was 

 peat (and I am quite particular about the soil), and he said if 

 all his berries had been Warfield and Bederwood he would have 

 had an enormous crop. He said the Warfield and Bederwood 

 bore splendidly, and he broke a couple of acres more which he 

 intends to plant out to strawberries next spring. 



Pres. Underwood: Does he have it drained and tiled? 



Mr. C. W. Sampson: Yes, sir. 



Mr, Smith : I would like to ask Mr. Sampson if people who 

 planted in marshes would not be troubled with frost in the 

 spring of the year? 



Mr. C. W. Sampson: That is what I would be afraid of, of 

 the blossoms taking harm by frost. 



Mr. Pearce: I want to say a few words on that subject. 

 There is a man living near my place by the name of Whitney; 

 some of you know him. He has a peat hole out on his place 

 and when I was at his place, it was the latter part of May, 

 about the 25th of May, and he had about an acre of strawberries 

 in that marsh, and the water was only about three feet below the 

 surface. It was a beautiful warm day, and the strawberries 

 were green and looking fine, but all those that had been set out 

 had not borne a bit; there were about an acre of them. I said. 

 "What is the matter with your strawberries, Mr. Whitney, 

 they are not bearing?'' " Well," said he, " if you will dig down 

 here eight inches you will come to solid frost, solid frozen 

 ground. " Sure enough, four inches below the surface there was 

 frozen ground. That is the idea. They come out in the spring and 

 remain frozen. Other strawberries are all in blossom before 

 those come out. Here there was water three feet below, and 

 frost eight inches below. So far as frost is concerned they did 

 not take any harm, but they did not begin to blossom until 

 about the middle of June. I examined them carefullj^; it was 

 a wonderful sight. 



