SMALL FRUITS. 349 



next to the Crescent were picked at the same time. A neigh- 

 bor of mine came along and said, "These are very nice James 

 Vick," pointing to the Crescent. I showed him the difference, 

 then, between the two. On the rows nearest to the Vick, it 

 took an expert to tell whether they were Crescents or Vicks. 

 I have noticed from that time until the present that the f erti ■ 

 lizing of one variety had something to do with the appearance 

 and the general looks of its neighbors. 



Mr. Underwood: Does it affect the quality? 



Mr. Plants: It has something to do with the quality also, 

 and it has something to do with the hardness of the berry, the 

 firmness. Mr. Elliot was up to my old place last year with 

 Mr. Red path, and the No. 5 there, that was fertilized with the 

 Captain Jack, they found was a large, coarse, soft berry. 

 They went right down to Mr. Spait's and found the No. 5 there 

 fertilized with the Louise, and they didn't know the difference. 

 It looked to be the same variety. The only difference really 

 is, that one was fertilized with the Louise and the other with 

 the Captain Jack, and, yet, these two were supposed to be 

 different varieties. 



SMALL FRUITS IN THE BIG WOODS. 



DR. M. M. FRISSELLE, EUREKA. 



The requisite conditions for the successful culture of strawberries, 

 raspberries, currants, gooseberries and blacliberries, are first of all, a 

 deep, rich soil well supplied with humus, and for all except the latter a 

 subsoil of clay, to retain moisture during the period of ripening fruit. 

 High ground, well drained, is most desirable, and low, level ground that is 

 subject to standing water, even to a limited extent, should be avoided. 

 In this state, we are fortunate in possessing an almost unlimited 

 amount of such land as is remarkably well adapted to the culture of 

 small fruits, and none, it seems to the writer, better suited for this pur- 

 pose than the land in that section known as the Big Woods. 



This region is a tract somewhat triangular in form, extending 100 miles 

 from Mankato in a northeasterly direction to St. Cloud. It has an average 

 width of about 40 miles, and contains about 4,000 square miles. It is, or 

 has been, heavily wooded with maple, basswood, oak, elm, ironwood, 

 etc., and the soil is deep, rich and fertile, producing readily abundant 

 crops of grain and vegetables. My observations in this section have 

 been confined to the region along the Great Northern Railroad from Excel- 

 sior to Hutchinson, a distance of about 50 miles, and from thence north 

 for 6 or 8 miles further. The proximity of this fertile tract of country 

 to the markets afforded by the twin cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis 

 renders it especially attractive to market gardeners and growers of small 

 fruits, as the matter of transportation is one of importance in consider- 



