1S69. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



167 



As to the varieties of strawberries, the num- 

 ber is large. Fuller, in his "Small Fruit Cul- 

 turist," gives the names of 200 sorts. The 

 truly valuable kinds would be counted by 

 dozens only. Of forty or fifty kinds that I 

 have tried or am trying now, there are but 

 four or five that I find profitable for the mar- 

 ket, though several are as good or better for 

 home consumption, but have some defect that 

 spoils them for selling. 



I commenct d with a nameless variety, proba- 

 bly the Virginia Scarlet, — very nice, but small, 

 -which was a fatal defect. I then tried Cutter's 

 Seedling, or Bunce. This is better, but is 

 rather soft, and does not hold out its size very 

 well after the third or fourth picking. As 

 long, however, as one carries the berries him- 

 self, this sort can be got to market in good 

 order. It will be some time probably before 

 it is entirely discarded. Then I came acros, 

 the Wilson's Albany, which is the strawberrys 

 as the Concord is the grape, for the million. 

 It has been much run down by interested per- 

 sons, but it steadily holds its own in the mar- 

 ket, which is the best test for those who grow 

 to sell. It is firm, handsome, carries well, 

 and if properly ripened, really a good fruit. 

 The plant is healthy and hardy in all localities 

 in which I have tried it, — two valuable quali- 

 ties better developed in this sort than in any 

 other 1 have tried. No other bears as large 

 crops or hold its size to the last as well. So 

 far it has been my most profitable variety. 



The Agriculturist promised well at first, yet 

 in profitableness it has not come up to my ex- 

 pectations. The plants grow well, and give 

 the largest stools of any sort I ever saw. 

 They seem a little tender, and die out without 

 any apparent cause in the winter. While they 

 blossom well, and seem to set perfectly, when 

 •we come to pick them, though they are large 

 and handsome, they don't seem to fill up the 

 boxes. I am tr} ing them on lighter soil for 

 another year, and if they don't do better 

 there shall probably discard them. 



The Doioner''3 Prolijic is a promising sort, 

 thrifty and hardy ; fruit large ami firm, though 

 rather acid. 



The TriompJie de Oand, Fillmore, Jenny 

 Li7id, BusseWs Golden-Seedtd and some 

 others, I have rejected for various reasons. 



Of the Lady of the Lake, Brigh.on Pine, 

 Hovei/'s, New Jersey Scarlet and Jucunda I 

 have good sized beds, and all of these, except 

 perhaps the llovey, are promising. The 

 iiovey looked extremely well the early part of 

 the season, but the last part the plants looked 

 sickly. The leaves blacken up badly, and 

 there does not seem as much life in the plants 

 as in other varieties on either side of it. 



Of a dozen new sorts on trial, some are ex- 

 tremely promising, while a greater portion are 

 extremely unpromising. 



—Columbus, Texas, will kill and pack 10,000 to 

 15,000 beeves this year. 



For the New England Farmer. 



PLOUGHING.— SEEDUNTQ.— HARROW- 

 ING. 



WxsTMiNSTEH, Vt., FARMERS' Club, Jan. 18, 1869. — 

 Tbpic— "Preparation of the soil for the reception of 

 agricultural seed, best kind of seed to be used, and the 

 mode of cultivation until matured." — (Continued from 

 last meeting ) 



N. G. Pierce. — Time is not misspent in well 

 preparing ground for seed. For ploughing I 

 agree with the opinion of the club as expressed 

 last week, that green sward should be turned 

 four to five inches deep, ploughing coarse 

 manure under ; but I would put Jine manure 

 on the top. I plough same ground for oats eight 

 or nine inches, leaving the manure between the 

 two layers of earth. I believe the side-bill the 

 plough, as it leaves no dead furrows. For a' 'good 

 catch" of cereal grain or grass seed, we can- 

 not harrow too much. The best variety of corn 

 I think is a 12-rowed "Canada" kind brought 

 into this vicinity by "Peter Mayo." On three- 

 fourths of an acre he obtained sixty bushels. 

 I planted this variety when I went in for a pre- 

 mium a few year#ago, and had 132 bushels. 

 and 25 quarts. The next year I raised npon 

 an acre 100 bushels and 20 quarts. Since which 

 I have raised between eighty and ninety, 

 seventy and eighty, and sixty and seventy 

 bushels per acre. S. C. Underwood planted 

 some of my twelve-rowed, side by side with 

 the "Holden" variety which he has kept pure. 

 Mine yielded from ten to fifteen bushels per 

 acre the most, and is earlier. 



John McNeil, (on a plain land farm. ) — I don't 

 believe four inches deep will do for me. I 

 plough up six inches and then I have earth 

 enough to work well without harrowing up the 

 sod. I put my coarse strawy manure under 

 the sod. I don't know what to do with it when 

 upon the top of the ground all summer, and 

 believe it is poor economy to leave it there. 

 I harrow my ground well. The "rotary har- 

 row," now in use in Maine, does the work 

 better than anything I ever saw. I li^e the 

 "Holden" corn better than anything I have 

 ever found. 



Henry Floyd — (hill farm.) I plough sis 

 inches deep, and put my manure upon the top. 

 By so doing I get better corn, grain and grass 

 than myneighbors who turn their manure under. 

 We must hoe corn well ; can hoe three times 

 cheaper than twice ; and the third hoeing will 

 add ten to fifteen bushels of corn to the acre, 

 as it fills out better. I agree with others as to 

 advantages of thorough ploughing and harrow- 

 ing. 



Capt. Titcomb. — Four inches is deep enough 

 for ploughing green sward. Harrow well to 

 give root and blade a chance to get ahead of 

 weeds. In these days of sharp and long- 

 cornered hoes there is danger of severing the 

 little roots and spongioles of the corn, so as ^o 

 weaken the vigor of the stalk. 1 would also 



