TWENTIETH ANNUAL MEETING. 45 



of varieties which wonUl suit }our needs; you have got to 

 test out varieties for yourself, and when you have found a 

 good one, sticl< to it. Glen ^Iar\-, Sample and Mead have done 

 very well with nie in hills, also in matted rows, while Bubach, 

 Minute J\Ian and Stevens Late Champion are excellent. 



The summer care of the beds consists mainly in thoroug'li 

 cultivation, frequent stirring of the soil, which should not be 

 too deep ; three inches with horse-drawn tool and not over 

 one inch with hand cultivator or hoes. This cultivation should 

 be kept up even though weeds are not present, as nothing 

 assists the growth of the plant more than plenty of cultiva- 

 tion. Of course, all runners should be removed as they ap- 

 pear. Cultivation should cease as cold weather approaches, 

 and when the ground is slightly frozen toward the end of 

 October or first of November, the plants should be carefully 

 mulched, first with very fine horse manure, and later, when 

 the ground is frozen, with coarse meadow grass, held in 

 place by brush or trash wood. In the spring, as soon as dan- 

 ger from heavy freezing is past, a pJirt of the mulch should 

 be removed. This can be done from April 10th to the 30th, 

 according to weather conditions and location. Oftentimes, 

 especially when we have late frosts, leaving the mulch on the 

 beds does more harm than good, for it has been repeatedly 

 proved that frost in late May or early June does more harm 

 to a mulched bed than to one unmulched. The theory for 

 this is that when the grcjund is mulched the warmth from 

 the ground does not radiate and protect the blossoms from' 

 frost. 



It is well in the spring to apply some fertilizer to the 

 plants, such as wood ashes or sulphate of potash, with a small 

 amount of nitrogen, provided the leaf growth is not sufficient, 

 but an excess of either organic or chemical nitrogen should 

 be avoided, as it tends to soften the fruit as well as destroy 

 tlie flavor. If the fruit is to be shipped to a distant market 

 it should be picked before thoroughly ripe, and graded while 

 being picked, so that there will be little handling and less 



