REPORT ON SMALL FRUITS. 48i> 



bore very tinely, but tlie ( )liio did not aeeui to be an thrifty as it 

 ehould have been. Atithracnose ia the fault of that. The "curly 

 leaf" bothered us very little, but I kept pouiidinp away at it. I 

 think I have as little as an3' one. I do know the " curly leaf "' when 

 I see it, but 1 am not so familiar with anthracnose. Take my black- 

 cap varieties— it seems to make so little impression on the bark that 

 I can hardly tell it. 



My blackberries were very fine, and those I had in bearing bore 

 very nicely. I have three varieties, the Briton, Stone's Hardy and 

 Snyder. Last year I was going- to throw away the Stone's Hardy. 

 Some of my neighbors claimed they would not bear, and they were 

 going to dig them up. They did well with me this j-ear. They were 

 planted two years ago, and they have acted splendidly. The plants 

 are coming along all right. That takes in all my experience of any- 

 thing I can think of at present. 



Mr. J. S. Harris: Mr. E. E. Harris is a member of that com- 

 mittee, but he has sold out and moved to Wisconsin. His ex- 

 perience with strawberries was better than that of any one 

 else in that region. His best strawberries were the Warfield, 

 fertilized with Michael's Early. His experience with raspber- 

 ries this year was similar to what I have already said. He says 

 he can get better results from blackcaps by pulling out the 

 surplus suckers and letting the canes grow to their full length 

 during the summer than to cut them back and get a large 

 quantity of young shoots in the way. This is another objec- 

 tion: if you cut back the plants when they are two feet high, 

 it will induce the vine to make a later growth in the fall, and it 

 is liable to take injury. I know of an experience we had: 

 there were some plants close to the road, and we cut them 

 back in August, and the result was, they started a new 

 growth, and some threw fruit buds out, and they were good 

 for nothing. He advocates close planting and then thinning 

 out. 



Stripping Gkapes after a Frost.— The cjuestion is frequently 

 asked by our horticultural e.xchanges, "Does it pay to strip otT the 

 new growth after being killed by late frosts, as was the case this 

 spring?" The "Leader" has interviewed several of the prominent 

 growers, and nearly all answer in the afhrmative. 



Some others are of the opinion that it makes no dilTerence, but we 

 fail to find any one who thinks it injures the crop. Different methods 

 were followed, some cutting off the dead sprouts, leaving about an 

 inch next to the woods, while others tore it entirely off, compelling 

 the new growth to start from the wood. The latter plan is found 

 to bring the better results. It is also found that the earlier 

 the vines are stripped after the frost, the better thej' j-ield. Most 

 of the growers say that in case of frost in the future they will 

 proceed immediately to strip every vine. Vineyards that were so 

 treated this year will yfeld.from a fourth to a half a crop. — Lawton 

 Leader. 



