Il8 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



uneasiness, as I have known them to drive growers out of the 

 business. I was very careful not to let any weed go to seed, 

 as weeds in my strawberry bed are the bane of my life. I dug 

 my potatoes early and went over the ground with a spring 

 tooth harrow, then left it to let the weeds start ; they started 

 all right, then the last of October I plowed the ground and 

 did not put on any cover crop, as it was too late. Usually I sow 

 rye as a cover crop, but this time it was no use as it was too 

 late. Early in the spring of 1903 I plowed the ground again, 

 and put on 1,500 lbs. of Stockbridge strawberry manure, using 

 an eleven-tooth seed drill, and going over the ground both 

 ways, setting the fertilizer attachment to sow to its full capacity, 

 which is between 350 and 400 lbs. to the acre; going both 

 ways gave me between seven and eight hundred pounds to 

 the acre. The drill teeth are set about eight inches apart, so 

 that in setting plants it is almost impossible to set one without 

 getting the fertilizer, and as the drill puts the phosphate about 

 two inches under ground, it makes the method a very complete 

 and to me a very satisfactory one. Then I put on an iron 

 band roller and made the surface as smooth as a house floor. 

 It also serves to keep the moisture, and also to start the weeds 

 several days quicker. I am very careful not to roll the land 

 when wet. I like to have the dust rise behind the roller, but 

 just before a rain. 



Then I take twine and string across my bed four feet apart, 

 and set my plants from fifteen to eighteen inches in the row, 

 setting from four to six rows of non-fertilizing varieties and 

 two rows of perfect flowering kinds, as I find that pistulate 

 varieties bear heavier crops than the perfect flowering kinds. 

 I do not raise a great number of varieties. Four or five of 

 the old reliable market varieties I have found most profitable. 

 I do change varieties, and like very much to keep up w'ith 

 the times, but am satisfied to let the other fellow do the experi- 

 menting. From three to five dollars per thousand for some- 

 thing that has been thoroughly tried and found reliable is 

 enough for me to pay for plants for profit. 



I set usually the first week in May, and it takes a week to 

 dig and set the plants, which is plenty* long enough to leave 

 the weeds, so that I start the cultivator just as soon as I get 

 through setting, and keep it going, as the weeds show them- 



