1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



751 



very late potato, Terry's preference, which he 

 calls the Monroe Seedling. 



Pumpkins — For the niarlvet-gardener. Early 

 Sugar. 



Rhiih(trl) — I do not know which is best — Vic- 

 toria or Linnanis. . 



Rmllshcs — Vlck's Early Scarlet Globe; 

 Wood's Early Frame; Eeckert's Chartler; Chi- 

 nese Rose. This list is rather long; but as each 

 is particularly suited for some special season, I 

 do not know how we can avoid having so many. 



SaJsify — New Mannnotli. 



SpiiKtrh — Bloomsdale Curled. 



Sqiinnhes — Giant Summer Crookneck. and 

 Hubbard for a winter squash. I have become dis- 

 gusted in trying the much-lauded new squashes, 

 and finding, after all, that none were equal to 

 the old genuine Hubbard. The Hubbard not 

 only sells better than any thing else, but with 

 heavily manured and early worked ground it 

 yields about as many tons per acre. 



Tomato — Ignotum. I should rather like to 

 have the Golden Que(^n. and possibly some 

 Peach tomatoes and Pear-shaped, just for the 

 fun of it; but for actual profit I do not believe 

 it pays. We have for years carried the Pear- 

 shaped tomatoes on the wagon until they be- 

 came so bruised they were worthless. Once in 

 a while somebody wants them; but the demand 

 is too small in our town to pay for carrying 

 them around. 



T»?'/(ip.s— Purple Top White Globe, and some 

 sort of French or Swede turnip. For three or 

 four years past we have not found one that suits 

 us. When I wa« a boy my father used to raise 

 them as big as a peck measure, and they wpre 

 sweet and tender when cooked. We have not 

 succeeded in getting any like them during the 

 past ten years. I wish somebody would tell me 

 whether the fault was in the seed or location. 

 Father raised them on sandy, gravelly soil. 

 We have tried them here in Medina in all kinds 

 of ground. 



Now, friends, after friend Green . has given 

 his opinion and advice I want you all to pitch 

 in and help. I am going to have a seed-cata- 

 logue before the first of January, all on one 

 page, even if it costs hundreds of dollars to get 

 it down on one page. It may need to be amend- 

 ed more or less every year; but my present 

 notion is, that it must be kept down to about 

 the number of varieties I have outlined above. 



TERRY 8 METHOD OF GETTING AN EVEN STAND 



OF STRAWBERRIES, NEITHER TOO THICK 



NOR TOO THIN. 



Friend Root: — We are tliinningoutour straw- 

 berries now, and I was just reading what you 

 say on page 720. Probably frieiul Pierce and my- 

 self are both right for our ditt'er<'nt circum- 

 stances. He makes a business of growing small 

 fruits, and says he kept a man in liis tierry-tield 

 all through August, and Se|)tember. ])erhaps, to 

 train the runners and let only enough grow to 

 make a proper stand. He further says, a weed 

 is a plant out of place, and asks, in the Country 

 OentlciiuDi, why I let them grow and occupy the 



groiuid, to be taken out and thrown away after- 

 ward. 



I am a farmer. Tn August and Seiitember our 

 time is very valuable at our i-egular work. If I 

 had the berries carefully watched during that 

 time, and only those plants that were needed 

 were allowed to take root. I should have to hire 

 extra lielp to do it. Now our hurry is over, and 

 my man can do it at no cost, as there is nothing 

 else that needs attention. 



When the rnnn(>rs \\('i'e well started we went 

 through once and placed them around, and then 

 let them grow unnuilestcd. The stand is almost 

 perfect. I wish I could send you a photograph. 

 It is natural foi' strawberry-vines to grow and riui 

 and multi|)ly freely, and I believe they are the 

 mostluMilthy and pi'oductive when allowed to do 

 so. But to make the fruit large we must thin 

 them out after they get about through. Again, 

 I would rather do this all at once, now, than 

 to go over and over the patch for months. 

 With a gardcn-ti'owel. ground sharp, we liiid 

 we can. with a single push, cut the plants oft' 

 just at the bottom of the crowns, and take them 

 out very rapidly, without making any hole or 

 disturbing the others. As they have been run- 

 ning since the last of June thi'v will hardly do 

 any more of this, and the thinned-out plants 

 can now grow and get a good ready for busi- 

 ness next year. 



We have cut our ro\Vs down to paths 16 inches 

 wide, and beds 33. with i)lants as nearly (5 inches 

 apart every way as possible. I do not think as 

 many bushels to the acre of as fine large beiTies 

 can be grown |)ractically in any other way. 

 There are other plans that will grow as large 

 fruit but not. I think, as many bushels. 



When destroying the small feeble plants, and 

 the large ones where they were too thick, last 

 year, we le ft them in the jiatlis and some in the 

 bed. It wasn't a finished nor a satisfactory job. 

 This year we put them in baskets and remove 

 them. The plants are held to each other by the 

 runners, so it is not easy to get them out, except 

 by cutting th<>s(> oft'. If the side of tlie trowel 

 isgrouud sharp we find it will cut them rt-adilv. 



Hudson. ().. Oct. 4. 18SX). T. B. Tekky." 



I-'riend T., we know by experience that there 

 is wisdom in what you say. AVe have gone over 

 our plants three and perhaps four times with 

 some of them, where they were set in July, and it 

 is a pretty big job. I feel quite certain that your 

 plan would be the best economy of labor, and 

 perhaps tlie economy of labor would make up 

 for what would be gained in not having the 

 ground at any time overcrowded. It is a ques- 

 tion in regard to the help that may be available. 

 As I have already said, it takes a person of skill 

 and experience to do the work nicely. Boys, as 

 a rule, will take a great amimnt of time, and not 

 get just what you want even then, unless they 

 are, say. toward 18 or 20. I heartily agree with 

 you in regard to initting the refuse plants and 

 weeds in a basket. With a little practic(>, our 

 children will pull weeds and put them into a 

 basket about as quickly as to throw them on the 

 ground: and if they are in the habit of giving 

 each weed a fling, there will be a saving of time 

 by putting them into the basket. Then your 

 work is clean and well done, and your path 

 looks slicked u|); whereas if the weeds are 

 thrown in the paths, when a heavy rain follows 

 a great many will grow. I have just had a most 

 interesting and pleasant visit from two of our 



