§ 
16 MANURES. 
possible, some weeks before the plants are set out. A 
liberal handling of the soil, thoroughly pulverizing it, 
before proceeding to the work of transplanting, is good 
economy. 
MANURES. 
On this point we are aware we shall differ widely 
from some of our ablest horticulturists, to whom we 
confess our inferiority in most things in the great 
science of horticulture; yet, in this we are confident 
that their own personal experiments, did their time 
permit, would lead them to the same results that we 
have deliberately arrived at. 
And first, we would not use animal or barn-yard 
manures for the strawberry. We have eschewed their 
use entirely for the last six years. If friends who 
have watched our beds for years, say the soil was pe- 
culiar, and is not a fair test, we answer, that may be, 
but we have arrived at this positive conclusion from 
our experiments and observation in other locations 
and soils, as well as in our own garden, and every step 
has only confirmed us in the opinion, that animal 
manures are too stimulating and exciting to the plant 
for the full bearing properties of the strawberry. 
Fine fruit has been raised, we know, in fair quanti- 
