STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 41 



Mr. Kramer. No; but there was a mixture of the two kinds. I 

 have been experimenting and have perhaps 500 different plant-!. I 

 have about a dozen different kinds of berries here; some that [ set a 

 year ago are now l)earing. I liave one seedling three years old that I 

 think will beat the Crescent to death. 



Mr. Harris. That machine which Mr. Kramer speaks of was made 

 in this way: He took a piece of a cross-cut saw about five inches 

 wide and had it bent in a circle but the ends not Avelded together. He 

 has a piece of iron rivetted on where the two ends would come to- 

 gether and has a wooden handle. He can take up a plant with this 

 without disturbing the roots; it is a most excellent plan for transplant- 

 ing strawberries. It costs perhaps twenty-five cents to make if you 

 can get an old saw blade. 



Mr. Smith. I have fertilized a bed of strawberries in the same 

 manner. In regard to the subject of fertilizing, I would say that I 

 think there is a marked eff'ect upon the fruit. I had a lot of Michigan 

 seedlings whcih I fertilized with Wilson and Glendale, and if you could 

 have seen them you would have been convinced that it had an eff'ect 

 upon the fruit. The seedlings were soft and light colored; those fer- 

 tilized with Wilson were rounder in shape and darker in color and 

 very much firmer; the same with those fertilized with Glendale. 



Mr. Harris. Was that this year? 



Mr. Smith. That was three years ago. 



Mr. Harris. I tliink I was of the same opinion at that time and. 

 made a statement to that eff'ect at the time. But I conducted a care- 

 ful experiment this year and I wanted to take back what I said at that 

 time. 



Mr. Smith. I made some notes upon the paper read by Mr.. Pearce. 

 This matter of mulching in the fall or winter; as to which is to be 

 preferred depends on circumstances. If plants are not standing very 

 thick together and the ground has been cultivated late in the season 

 it will be of advantage to mulch early; if plants grow thick together 

 and the ground has not been cultivated it is as well to 

 mulch in the winter. If the ground is clean and liable to crack—as much 

 garden soil is — the plants will not be injured by mulching in the fall. 

 In regard to fertilizing the Crescent. On strong clay soil I would rec- 

 ommend to use the Wilson as you cannot do any better. 

 You cannot depend on the effect of fertilization from the 

 fact that Crescents grown on high, clay soil would be much firmer 

 and of much better, color than if grown on a lighter soil and with 

 plenty of rotted manure around them. 



