390 ANNUAL REPORT. 



plants. I have been nsing potted plants myself. By that means 

 I can get them out very early, and when fall comes I have got 

 great big plants. 



Mr. Gilpatrick said that if they were put out early a large 

 crop could be had the next year. 



Mr. Pearce. I think there is a great advantage in potted 

 plants. They are stronger; and the best berries in this market 

 have been from potted plants. After you get started it is an 

 easy matter. I just put the pot down. Eastern growers are 

 almost universally using potted plants. One-and-a-half-inch 

 pots are large enough. I think I can pot 1,000 plants in two 

 hours. Hereafter I shall use pots altogether. Of course where 

 you are setting out acres it is a different thing. 



Mr. Smith. Should plants be cultivated in the spring ? 



Mr. Gilpatrick. Not in sandy soil, but in clay soil it is neces- 

 sary. On sandy soil just level the mulch, and do not stir the 

 soil. Be careful about mulching too early. I have known my 

 neighbors to lose a crop once in two years by mulching too early. 



Mr. Pearce said the best crop he ever grew he mulched in the 

 winter when the snow was a foot and a half deep. He put the 

 straw on just before Christmas. He said that his experience was 

 that the cold spring weather was what kills the strawberry plant. 

 He said that T)eople were punching him up for plants at a time 

 when he had to tell they were covered with snow. Strawberry 

 plants can be kept in that way almost always through this freez- 

 ing and thawing. 



Mr. Gilpatrick said that if the winter is open the plants should 

 be covered. 



Mr. Smith said that if they had not been covered up with snow 

 by December 10th, then they must be covered up with something 

 else. 



Mr. Pearce said they must be covered lightly. An inch of 

 straw IS enough. The trouble begins when the snow goes off. 



In answer to a question as to how straw and horse manure 

 would do for a covering on heavy land Mr. Gilpatrick said it 

 would do for a covering, but would not do for mulching. 



A remark was made to the eifect that if manure was used for 

 mulching there would be plenty of leaves but no fruit. 



Mr. Pearce said that we should breed strawberries in the same 

 manner in which we breed animals. We should reject every- 

 thing that is bad. In selecting old varieties try to get nice col- 

 ored berries and cross them. By crossing you can get better 



