364 ANNUAL REPORT. 



the spring; there are several ways in which to guard against danger from this 

 ■cause. First, plant varieties that bloom at different seasons, tlien if one is taicen 

 the other will be left ; second, leave the mulching over the plants until the danger 

 fleeras passed ; third, do not plant those varieties which have proven particularly 

 susceptible to injury from frost ; fourth, if you have done your duty in the premi- 

 ses as heretofore directed, and your plants are uncovered and white with bloom, 

 and you are likely to have a sharp frost, get out all the help you can and cover the 

 plants again with the mulch as with a blanket. The mulch may remain for two or 

 three days without harm and the danger will be over. 



I know that this will save a crop which will otherwise be destroyed, and if the 

 winter's mulch is left in the paths between the rows, it is a short job for two or 

 three men to cover an acre of plants. 1 think I am the first who called attention to 

 this remedy, as I have never seen it in print until in the article prepared by me 

 for the August, 1884, number of Vick's magazine. 



There is a third difficulty to be overcome in growing strawberries, which is the 

 drouth that sometimes arrives about fruiting time. If you have but a small bed, 

 you can easily water it; a large plantation is much protected by the mulch between 

 the rows and I have watered plants by the acre with a street sprinkler with much 

 lenefit. Here" in the north we have some advantages. No insect enemies yet to 

 devour the crop, and no rust, leaf blight or like objections to injure the plants; 

 hence, we ought to do as well as growers anywhere and revel in the delight that all 

 mortals feel when eating strawberries. If the ancients had our advantages, Homer 

 and Virgil would never have sung of nectar and ambrosia, but Jupiter and the 

 other gods upon Olympus would have been depicted as subsisting upon strawber- 

 ries and cream, with an occasional short-cake to make the diet more substantial. 



In growing strawberries, use rich soil, give good culture, grow in matted rows 

 not too wide ; hill culture is not available, plant in spring, set few varieties, grow 

 Crescent with Finch's Prolific or Wilson for fertilizer for early; Cumberland Triumph 

 and Miner's Prolific for medium; Manchester, Mt. Vernon or Glendale for late, and 

 if you desire to experiment buy a dozen of some new kind and compare with 

 any variety named and you will probably not propagate the novelty further. 



• RASPBERRIES. 



The raspberry follows the strawberry in season and is next to it in quality. It is 

 not so universally hardy, but some varieties are almost iron-clad. In blackcaps 

 there seems to be two families, the one more slender in growth, ripening canes and 

 berries early; the Doolittle and its successors Souhegan, Tyler and Ohio are of this 

 class. The other class is larger in cane and berry, later in ripening fruit and wood 

 and is represented by the Mammoth Cluster with numerous aliases and the Gregg. 

 The former class maturing its growth earlier, surpasses the latter in hardiness; and 

 being of a drooping habit can be more easily covered in localities where protection 

 is necessary. 



The red raspberries are of high flavor, and the Turner, I think, is by far the hardi- 

 est and best for the north and I deem Thwack about as hardy and a better shipper, 

 although not as fine in quality. 



Cuthbert is valuable but is injured by winters like that of 1834 5. 



