IN GROWING SMALL FRUITS. 



^ p^EN years ago I began to raise 

 small fruit. In the fall I pre- 



-_i pared 12 rods of ground — man- 

 ured it well. In the spring I bought 

 first-class strawberry plants. These 

 were set out 18 inches apart in the 

 rows, the rows being 4 feet apart. 

 To plant my ground it required 600 

 plants, which cost me $10. During the 

 summer the ground was hoed and kept 

 free from weeds. By fall the rows were 

 nicely matted. When the ground froze 

 in the fall the rows were covered with 

 basswood sawdust, the coarsest of this 

 was raked between the rows in the 

 spring. 



That season brought plenty of nice 

 large berries. After the crop was har- 

 vested the vines were mowed and the 

 thickly matted rows were narrowed to a 

 foot in width by cultivating between 

 them. Late in the fall the ground be- 

 tween the rows was again manured. 



The following summer again brought 

 forth a fine crop of berries. Not count- 

 ing what was used in my family, I har- 

 vested that year $50 worth. 



I began now to think that with more 

 land it would pay to raise small fruit. 

 I then bought 4 acres of sodded ground. 

 With a jointer on my plow I worked ^ 

 acre up in good shape, set it, as at first, 

 but using my own runners from plants 

 which had grown their second crop. 

 This was my first mistake, although I 

 hadn't yet discovered it. I cultivated, 

 weeded and covered with sawdust as 

 before. The spring brought every ap- 

 pearance of a good crop. I began to 

 figure : if 12 rods of ground will bring 



$50, 40 rods will bring . But when 



the crop began to ripen, there were 

 quantities of scrubs not fit for market, 

 and very few fine berries. 



The 12 rods, now in its third yean 

 bore a fine crop as before, though not 

 so large. I kept no account of the 

 amount sold that season, but began to 

 try to discover the cause of the failure 

 by reading and from talking with men 

 of experience. I found I had made the 

 mistake in using runners from plants 

 having grown their second crop. 



I then prepared ^ acre of ground. 

 As my own plants were now run out, I 

 bought 4,000 plants of different varie- 

 ties, at a cost of $50. I had now learned 

 my first lesson. After that I used the 

 first year's runners, taking up all in the 

 rows except the old plants, and the 

 newest runners ; these I plow under, as 

 they are too weak to give the best re- 

 sults. 



I do not use barnyard manure now 

 on my strawberry ground, because it 

 brings so large a crop of weeds. Now, 

 after harvesting two crops of berries, I 

 plow the vines under, and the last of 

 August or the first of September I sow 

 the ground to rye. The following spring 

 when the rye is up about three feet, I 

 plow it under, roll the ground well and 

 set out to plants. 



In the spring I sow it well with un- 

 leached ashes, using about 50 bushels 

 to the acre, the same as plaster would 

 be used. This saves much labor in 

 hoeing and weeding and also keeps the 

 ground in good shape. 



I have been very successful in always 

 having nice large berries. I have only 

 given my experience with strawberries 

 Aside from these I set out the balance 

 of my 4 acres to asparagus, currants, 

 gooseberries, raspberries and blackber- 

 ries. The blackberries I consider the 

 most profitable. 



This year from }i of an acre, of mostly 



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