The Canadian Horticulturist. 157 



The New Strawberry Culture was the subject of a paper by L. J. 

 Farmer, of Polaski. Following the principle of the New Onion Culture, he aims 

 at planting out as late as possible to save weeding. He takes his plants at the 

 usual time in spring, and trenches them till June ist, laying them against the 

 earth side of a furrow about 24 to a foot. One man can trench 10,000 per day. 

 All this time he cultivates the plot for which they are intended, getting it into as 

 excellent a condition as possible, setting the plants about the beginning of June. 

 The plants so treated are better than potted plants, arid will grow right along. 

 He uses a sort of adze in planting, with two motions for each plant set, and in 

 this way one man can set about 2,000 plants per day. 



Japan Plums were not spoken very well of by Mr. Nelson Smith. 

 His experience had not been satisfactory, and he would advise that fruit growers 

 be cautious in planting them. They came in when the market was not yet 

 ready for plums, and no one was ready for canning them. The Abundance he 

 counted unprofitable in an open market. He had shipped several hundred 

 baskets, and his returns were unsatisfactory. The Burbank was better than 

 Abundance. 



Mr. Hale believed there was a future for Japanese plums, for they were 

 vigorous, hardy and healthy. They would prolong the season by beginning the 

 plum harvest earlier. 



The cost of growing a pound of grapes was discussed by Mr. Spencer. 

 According to the Garden, he said: — "The cost of the various processes 

 of cultivation, such as cutting the curls, stripping brush from the wires, 

 stretching wires, tying, tillage, etc., from spring up till the time of harvest, is 

 about $9 an acre. How much a nine-pound basket costs depends on the man 

 and his soil. In vineyards where there are no missing vines, and all are thrifty 

 and even, an acre will yield a thousand baskets, and often twelve hundred, but 

 the average grape grower of the region does well if he gets five hundred baskets, 

 and the careless vine dresser gets all he deserves if he gets two hundred and 

 fifty. With five hundred baskets to the acre each one will cost one and eight- 

 tenths cents. But this nine dollars which has been expended since early spring 

 does not take the grapes to the freight car, and, indeed, it pays for only one- 

 quarter of the journey. The cost of baskets, handling, picking, packing, attend- 

 anee in various ways and hauling is yet to be met, so that harvesting the grapes 

 cost $27 more an acre, making a total of $36, In 1894 grapes were 11^ cents 

 a basket at the car door, or $58.75 an acre, which left $22.75 of profit. Out of 

 this must be taken the taxes, wear of implements, posts, crates, and sometimes 

 fertilizers, which, of course, vary in individual instances. Fruitgrowing is every 

 year becoming more and more a profession, which combines skill and science, 

 and the man who is best paid is he who raises the most difficult products. Fifty 

 men are competent to produce crops where there is one competent to raise 

 mushrooms, but mushrooms bring fifty times as much a pound as grapes. The 

 exceptionally skilled horticulturist can find a better business than growing grapes." 



