168 ABC OF STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 



Friend Terry thinks it would not require over two tons of straw 

 per acre where this amount is put on every year. And this is 

 all there is to it. The berry-patch always looks neat and tidy, 

 always bears a prodigious crop, no matter how dry it is, and all 

 the owner has to do is to pick the berries, each in its season. 



Next I whirled into the beautiful town of Kent, Portage 

 Co., O. A niece of mine has recently got married. Somebody 

 said she was a little bit inclined to be homesick since living in 

 Kent, and I must call on her. I found her husband in one of 

 the drygoods stores. He marched me into the best room of 

 one of the pretty little cottages in Kent, and in a minute more 

 I heard something like this : 



4 Millie, there is a man in the other room who wants to see 

 you. ' 



' Why, who is he, and what does he want ? " 



' I don't know. You will have to go in and talk with him." 



'Oh bother!" 



You see, the new wife was deep in the mysteries of bread- 

 making that is, her fingers were ; but when she caught sight 

 of the said "man," who insisted on seeing the ladv of the 

 house, she just threw up her hands and ejaculated, "O Uncle 

 Amos ! have you really got over here? " 



I do not know whether any of the flour from her fingers 

 got on my coat-collar or not ; but there was danger of it. Per- 

 haps I did look rather fresh and bright for an uncle toward 60 

 years old ; for, about half a mile out of Kent, I found a pretty 

 watering-trough, with a sort of annex at one end where the wa- 

 ter poured over into a stone basin, where the dogs could drink 

 with comfort. I first had a good drink of the soft water, then 

 I washed my hands in the dog trough, and some way or other 

 my head got down under that cooling stream. If you have 

 never ridden a wheel you can not imagine the delicious sensa- 

 tion. So you see my niece found me with my face washed and 

 hair combed. After a little we took our wheels (this young 

 couple are both provided with wheels) and ran around the town. 

 You see they did not have to hitch up nor even pay a cab-driver. 

 I do not know how it happened, but my wheel turned up al- 

 most of itself in front of an ice-cream stand. Some beautiful 

 strawberries out on the walk, right in front, must have had 

 something to do with it. Millie ordered some strawberries 

 while I was asking for ice-cream ; and did you ever try great 

 luscious Bubach strawberries mashed up in ice-cream, when 

 you were hot and thirsty? I began wondering who put such 



