1896 



GLEANINGSaiN BEE CULTURE 



691 



are planted oui in these same beds, making two 

 rows lengthwise of the bed. These rows are 

 about 3 feet apart, and the plants stand 6 inch- 

 es apart in the row. By keeping the runners 

 pinched off he gets enormous berries in these 

 rich specially prepared beds. 



We soon came to a bed containing about thir- 

 ty plants. These plants had a little more room, 

 perhaps a foot apart. As soon as I saw them I 

 raised my hands in surprise, for they were the 

 finest - looking, rankest- growing strawberry- 

 plants I ever saw in my life. The runners that 

 were just taking root here and there were al- 

 most the size of leadpencils; and the colors of 

 these great runners were almost as brilliant as 

 the c olors of a ripening peach. 



•• Well, I do declare! Friend C, is this a new 

 variety that gives this enormous growth, or is it 

 some special treatment? " 



"Mr. Root, the wonderful growth you see is 

 due both to the variety and treatment. The 

 plants are the ' Nick Ohmer,' and you have 

 four of them already. The special treatment is 

 this: There is quite a quantity of rich old com- 

 post spaded under the surface of the soil; but it 

 is not the compost alone. After preparing the 

 bed I stamped it down as hard as I could tramp 

 the mellow ground ; then I afterward pounded 

 it as I would pound the ground around a post, 

 and this is the result " 



D"JNow, Ola triend, you have missed quite a 

 little speculation. Had you showed me these 

 plants, and told me they were a new variety 

 just out. and were worth S^l.OO a piece. I would 

 have taken half a dozen, without a moment's 

 hesitation. As it is, 1 want to say to you that 

 the sight of this bed has been worth my whole 

 hard ride of 25 miles over the hills this morn- 

 ing." 



You see, this is nothing particularly new 

 after all. T. B. Terry and others fine up their 

 wheat ground on the surface until every 

 lump is pulverized— until the ground is like the 

 dust in the road, in fact. After having done 

 this the soil is pack<d down hard with a heavy 

 land-roller. This is the way they get such 

 enormous crops of wheat. Now, mind you, this 

 can be done only when the soil is very dry; and 

 it is especially needed on light sandy soils like 

 friend Crawford's, or any soil where a great 

 amount of stable manure has been applied. As 

 soon as it was explained to me I understood 

 exactly why strawberries do not do well at this 

 time of the year in my plant-beds where the 

 soil is almost half stable manure. ____^_ 



Right beside the strawberry-bed was a to- 

 mato-vine climbing a bean-pole— that is, with 

 the help of strings that held it fast to the pole. 

 This tomato-vine was bearing nice fruit from 

 the ground clear up about as high as your 

 head; and when I expressed surprise at such a 

 quantity of nice tomatoes on one vine, my 

 friend replied. •' Why. dear me, Mr. Root! we 

 have been picking ripe tomatoes almost every 

 day for weeks :>ast from this very vine." 



You know friend C. said some years ago, 

 when I first gave the world the Ignotum that 

 he was going to discard all other tomatoes. 1 

 did not see any other plants around. If that 

 one Ignotum tomato climbing the bean-pole 

 supplies his whole family, then I have never 

 given the IgnotuTn half the credit it deserves. 

 But it is the man Matthew Crawford, and not 

 altogether the tomato, any more than it is al- 

 together the Nick Ohmer strawberry that 

 makes such a beautiful plant. 

 rJust at this time somebody said dinner was 

 ready; and the first thing that caught my eye 

 was a heaping dish of good nice-looking pota- 

 toes with their jackets bursting open, and their 

 rich contents pufSng out, just as I found them 



at Wilbur Fenn's. Of course, I wanted to know 

 what variety it was. Friend C. informed me 

 that it was the Flagel, originated a few years 

 ago in that locality. The originator, when the 

 potato first came out, valued each tuber at 

 about the price of a horse. Now, that is away 

 ahead of the Thoroughbred. I suppose friend 

 C. would let you have quite a good lot of pota- 

 toes of that variety, for a horse just now. 



" Bro. Root, you have come in upon us with- 

 out notice to-day, and now we have nothing 

 but fresh pork in the way of meat for dinner;" 

 and he looked a little troubled while he waited 

 for my answer. 



" Why. bless your heart, friend C, I do eat 

 pork, and potatoes too, as you will find out be- 

 fore I finish my dinner." 



Then I had to apologize after awhile for eat- 

 ing dinner long after the rest had finished. I 

 told the boys that, if they had climbed great 

 hills for 25 miles, as I had done that forenoon, 

 they would comprehend the situation. By the 

 way, friend C. is quite fortunate in having a 

 couple of stalwart young men (his own boys) to 

 help him on his strawberry-farm, since he is 

 gettin'g old enough to feel like taking things a 

 little easier. 



THE DWARF KOCKY MOUNTAIN CHERRY. 



In John Lewis Chllds' new fall catalog we 

 find this cherry boomed just the same that he 

 and other catalog men have been booming it. 

 We have not space to give the whole, but we 

 take.out the following in regard to the quality: 



nThe fruit when ripe is a jet black, and of a size 

 somewhat larg-er than tlie English morello; in flavor 

 superior to auy other variety. 



Lovett, from whom we obtained the plants, 

 says in his "96 catalog: 



In quality and flavor it is akin to the sweet cher- 

 ries, excellent in flavor, and a pleasant fruit for 

 eating out of hand. 



Now, the truth is, this cherry is just about as 

 delicious as a piece of soap, and not a bit more. 

 In fact, it tastes more like soft soap than any 

 thing else I can think of. Perhaps it gets its 

 flavor from the spread-eagle advertisement the 

 catalog men give it. Mr. Childs may say, it is 

 true, that he has never seen a plant growing, 

 and has never tasted the fruit. But I stoutly 

 maintain that no seedsman has any right to 

 use such words of praise year after year with- 

 out making a trial test of these new fruits on 

 their own grounds. They may say that is too 

 much trouble. If they do, I hope their custom- 

 ers will conclude it is too much trouble to read 

 their catalogs. After they have been swindled 

 as I have, 1 think they will feel so. I have 

 watched the fruit day after day, and even wrote 

 it up, it looked so handsome with its beautiful 

 load of " cherries." 1 kept thinking that may 

 be the fruit would get better when it was riper. 

 But the fruit got ripe and rotted on the bushes. 

 But it never was fit for anybody or any thing 

 to eat. 



There is another shrub I got at the same 

 time, called the "tree cranberry."' It is very 

 pretty when in bloom, and the scarlet berries 

 are quite showy; but woe betide the urchin or 

 anybody else who gets a taste. I have tried it 

 at every stage of ripening, and I find it so bitter 

 and disagreeable that one wants to rinse his 

 mouth with water after having tasted even a 



