HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 431 



ciety that were picked in a heavy thunder storm. After pick- 

 ing, they were placed in a large dish and the dirt washed from 

 the berries and eighteen berries filled a quart box with fruit; 

 the next contained twenty berries and the third twenty-two. 

 They were in boxes for three days and were awarded first pre- 

 mium. 



I desire to test these varieties more thoroughly before offering 

 any of the plants for sale. 



EEPOET ON SMALL FEUIT. 

 By Wm. Lyons, Minneapolis. 



The past season has been a remarkable one. Spring opened 

 up later than the average; then came several weeks of cold, rainy 

 weather, something very unusual in Minnesota. The summer 

 was very cool, only a few warm days, followed by a long dry fall 

 and up to the present time a remarkably mild winter. Aside 

 from being a little late vegetables of nearly all kinds were an 

 average crop; prices, however, ruling very low when the market 

 was crowded. Potatoes were selling for 20 cents per bushel. 

 When the Minneapolis flour trust put flour up to 17.90 per bar- 

 ren, potatoes advanced to 35 and 40 cents per bushel and staid 

 at these figures for several weeks — about the only good I ever 

 knew a trust to do. 



Fruit of all kinds yielded a good crop except grapes; the season 

 was not warm enough for them; only the earliest varieties or 

 those grown in favorable locjitions came to maturity. A hail 

 storm in August destroyed mine and knocked off all the rasp- 

 berries that were ripe at the time. 



Strawberries were a large crop and found ready sale at prices 

 above the average of former years. The stocks of shipped ber- 

 ries were very small at the time our home grown fruits were ripe 

 and hence we did not come in competition with the foreign ship- 

 pers. The quality of fruit on the market the past season was bet- 

 ter than usual. Growers are beginning to find out that it pays to 

 produce a first class article; it sells quick and brings more 

 money, thus combining profit and pleasure. 



Of the varieties which have.'^done best for me I will name 

 Countess, Crescent, Windsor Chief, and a seedling of mine which 



