A B C OF STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 157 



tered and shaded when the sun was at the noon-mark. Then when these 

 got nicely to growing I looked over Root's special kinds of strawberries. 

 Besides the Jessies, which he had spoken very highly of, I found that he 

 also had put the Bubachs near the head of the list, so I sent immediately 

 to friend Kellogg, of Janesville, Wis., for 100 Bubach strawberry-plants, 

 and within four days I had them nicely set out among my 270 Jessies ; and 

 when friend Root made his Wisconsin visit some time ago he called on me 

 because he saw a garden and some hives of bees in the yard. He said they 

 were as nice as any he had seen. I wish he could see them now as they 

 cover the ground from one side to the other nicely. I spend many happy 

 moments of time with my fruit, and especially with my three beds of 

 strawberries. There is hardly a day when I am at home but that I look 

 at and do some fixing with them. 



We have been having extremely dry weather here, and some strawber- 

 ry-beds are almost burned up. But mine are rank and green, as if in a 

 wet season. Whenever I have a few moments of time I go to the straw- 

 berry-bed and straighten out the runners and bury the roots of the plants 

 formed on them, and keep doing so as long as it is so dry that they can't 

 take root ; then when the sun gets so low down as to shade the bed I wet 

 them all with water that has been pumped out of the well 12 or 15 hours. 

 I actually take delight in working in my garden, and I devote hours of 

 time therein when I can't work among the bees. BENJ. E. RICE. 



Boscobel, Wis., Sept. 7, 1889. 



To show the result of this care, watering, etc. , we now give 

 a letter received just after the berry-picking season of 1890 : 



EIGHTY QUARTS FROM A PIECE OF GROUND 5X82^ FEET. 



Friend Root .-The strawberry-bed you saw in my yard in Boscobel, 

 the day you arrived there, is 82^ feet long by 5 feet wide. We picked 80 

 quarts of as fine berries as any one ever saw, from said bed. They are 

 the Jessie and Bubach varieties. The little boy measured one that was 5J^ 

 inches around. This bed was only eleven months old when it produced 

 the 80 quarts of berries. You saw this bed a few days after it was set out, 

 it being a very dry time. BENJ. E. RICE. 



Boscobel, Wis., Julj 2, 1890. 



And now, dear friends, we givfe one more letter, \vhich 

 seems to be a fitting one for the end of the book, especially as 

 it emphasizes the little text that has long been one of my es- 

 pecially favorite ones from God's holy word. The text is 

 this: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteous- 

 ness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Lest the 



