344 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. , 



give a good yield of fine fruit if properly cared for. Shaefler's Colossal, 

 a large purple raspberry, is becomiog very popular as a farmers' berry. 

 It is large, very productive and of fair flavor. 



Two hundred to three hundred hills of red raspberries and one hun- 

 dred of blackberries make a goodly amount for a farmer's garden. 



Currants and gooseberries grow and bear well all over the state, when 

 they are kept clean from weeds or grass. The Eed Dutch and White 

 Grape are old, well-tried sorts, that give universal satisfaction. Prop- 

 agated from cuttings of the young shoots, one or two-year old plants 

 are sold cheap; they bear transplanting well, and begin to bear the 

 second year from planting. The suckers should be pinched out so that 

 only three to five stalks are left, these being renewed from time to time 

 by cutting out one or two old ones each year and allowing new ones to 

 take their place. They will stand very liberal manuring and respond 

 readily to high cultivation. Weeds, grass and drouth are their worst ene- 

 mies, but they are easily conquered by cultivation and mulching. 



Grapes should be found in every garden. They simply require room to 

 grow, thorough cultivation, careful pruning back each fall, laying down 

 and covering with dirt or straw; the entire details of which are furnished 

 by the reports of this society and the agricultural press. In conclusion, I 

 wish to appeal to every citizen who has a farm or garden to grow berries. 

 If you don't know how, you can easily secure the necessary information. 

 Do not make the mistake that, because you would rather ride a reaper or 

 hold down a cracker box while you talk politics in the country store than 

 to work in the garden, you can buy berries cheaper than you can 

 raise them. If you do, your family will have to do without the berries. 

 As a matter of economy, in the interest of health, morality, happiness, 

 peace, content and home comfort, grow berries for self, for family and for 

 friends, who always stand ready to pay you good money for good berries. 

 The business is not overdone; there is no prospect of its being overdone 

 for many years to come. There is no other direction in which the owner 

 of a farm or garden can invest a measure of time and money that will so 

 certainly bring large dividends of profit to the entire family as the pur- 

 chasing, planting and caring for a reasonable amount of small fruits. 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. L. H. Wilcox: Mr. Smith makes one point which I prize 

 very highly, and which I have been preaching for many years, 

 the system of setting early in the season; but my experience 

 this last season convinces me that, if a farmer cannot set out 

 his strawberries early in the season, he had better set them out 

 a little later rather than not set them out all. I had several 

 varieties that I received from Professor Green late in June, 

 and I set them out against my judgment at that time. I believe 

 they are equally as good as any that were set out earlier in the 

 season. 



Mr. J. A. Sampson: I will say that the best results I have 

 ever had with strawberry setting have been attained in setting 

 them out when they were two- thirds grown. It was at a time 



