1892 



GLEANlNliS IN HEB CULTURE. 



24; > 



prioos will he IukIkt in (•(insciiiicnro. and thiit 

 those wlio iliT net a iMii|) by faith fill hard labor 

 will fft't a fjood it'warti for their i»ains. Tlie 

 dainafjt' to early peaehes, however, is ^roiny: to 

 be a rather sad ealaniitv. 



OMON-SKTS — WHAT THKV (trOIlT TO 



Tlie v'tiods linve Uvvw riM-civod in >fo<'d 



LIKE, 



)i(ler. all 

 fully lip to my expectations, exfept the otiiciii-sets. 

 They are noi (piitt' what iliey oiiRlit to be. No 

 oiiio'n-set ou>rlit to be moie I lian H incli in (liaiiieler, 

 and I have sorted 14 peeks out of one bushel that 

 are aluuit one inch and o\cr. Now, I will warrant 

 all of these to run up a sied-stciii, and perhaps a 

 frood many more: still, ainon^r the smaller lot this 

 oUKht not to \)v so. But that is not all. They are 

 uiixeii with some ri'd onion. Tlu-se red ones might 

 l>e as >rood as the yellow, but they don't look so 

 wlieii put ui> in bundles, .-iiid 1 f(>ar they will not 

 sell so well. There is also a K'reat diflereiiee in the 

 two hag's (1 got two half-bushel bags). I would 

 willingly jrive fl.nti more for the one than for the 

 other, heeause it contains at least one-third more 

 small onions than the other. 



There is no question but they have been p»it up 

 very eaielessly; and 1 am sure that, if A. I. Koot 

 <'ould only have them under his spy-gljisses for one 

 niiiuite he would be read>' to fret hold of Se- 

 nior's shirt-sleeve and say, "Look here, old fellow, 

 you iiiiiat do better than "that, or else you will ruin 

 my reputation for sendinjir out first-class goods 

 only." Now. I don't want \iiu to give me a rebate 

 because they were not ipiite what thej' ought to 

 have l)een. I only take tlie libi'rty to call your at- 

 tention to it. because I think you don't know any 

 thing about it. Jui-ius Johannsen. 



Port Clinton, O., March :.*1. 



Well done, friend J. Even if you have found 

 some fault, you iiave given us some good point- 

 «>rs that I know by experience are valuable. I 

 have become so disgusted with sets producing 

 onions with a .seed-stem, and then splitting up 

 into two or three poor bulbs, tliat I have several 

 times thought I wouldn't have any thing more 

 to do w'ith sets. As you are right, doubtless, we 

 shall know how to remedy at least some of this 

 trouble in tlie future. Peter Henderson and 

 some others advertise tliat their sets are put 

 through a sieve, permitting nothing to go 

 through larger than i^ of an inch. We notice 

 you put it j'i inch. One thing is certain — a 

 bushel of onion-sets under '.j inch will produce 

 a great many more onions than the bigger ones. 

 Tho.se sent you were put up in my absence; but 

 we will try to make it up to you. even if you 

 are so good-natured you don't want any rebate. 

 I agree with you. also, in regard to mixing red 

 and yellow onion-sets together. Some dealers 

 claim that it does not make any difference; but 

 it looks to me like slipshod work. At the very 

 high prices sets are now bringing, they certainly 

 ought to be up to the standard you map out; 

 and, to tell the truth, raising onion-.sets is a 

 business. To produce good ones, you want seed 

 that is right; then you need .soil that is right, 

 and somebody to boss it who knows by experi- 

 ence how it should be done. There are a great 

 many things in this world that are not as they 

 should be; in fact, I see so many things that 

 are wrong, almost every day of my life, that I 

 almo-t iliink sometimes I am liard toplea.se; 

 but 1 do love to .^ee things A No. 1; and where 

 complaints are made in the good-natured strain 

 in which you make them, friend J., it seems to 

 rae we ought all of us to try a little harder to 

 do better. 



STRAWBKIJIUKS— HOW TO (JKT A CHOP IN Ci) DAYS 

 FItOM TltK TI.MK OF I'I>ANTI.\0. 



When I'eter Henderson announced that, in 

 his opinion, the cheapest way to grow straw- 

 berries was to have them occupy the ground 

 only one season, there was quite a little stir 

 about it. Since then one of the seed catalogues 

 that adveitised the (iandy strawberry sent it 

 out under the name of the "First Season,'' ad- 



vertising tliat the plants would bear a crop the 

 same season they are put out. Well, as the 

 (Jandy fruits so very late they probably do bear 

 a few berrii's. 1 am going to tell you of a plan 

 whereby you can get at least a pretty good i-iop, 

 and not have iliem occupy the groiitid more, 

 than t)l) days. 'I'he hint of it was given me at 

 the Inter-.Slate Agricultural and llorlicullural 

 ("onvention held in .lackson. Miss. The sjjcak- 

 er mentioned a certain Held of strawberries, and 

 gave the amount of land, and the number of 

 iiuails. and it was enormous; and lie remarked 

 that this result was obtained by selec^ting only 

 such iilants as had extra strong, very promising 

 ciowns: and he said, furtluutnoi'e. that some of 

 the ])iants. when put out. had not only blos- 

 soms but small green berrii's. As the ground 

 was veiy rich, however, it took right hold and 

 gi'ew. and gave tlie wondeifui result meniion- 

 ed. Now. with the transplanting-tubes 1 have 

 had good strong plants send out runners in ."30 

 days after tln'y were planted as I have men- 

 tioned. I hav(! not. liowevei-. as yet tiled tak- 

 ing up plants w bile in bloom; but 1 am making 

 preparations to do it this season. The right 

 kind of ground can be found just after some 

 first crop has been removed in th(> spring, say 

 spinach that has winten-d over, winter (jiiions, 

 etc. Now, as soon as t his ground can be spared, 

 give it a heavy dressing with old wcil-rotted 

 manure; work it up tine and di^ep, and. if ])os- 

 sible, let the early seeds germinate. When they 

 get near the surface, or just begin to show, rake 

 the ground very thoi'oughly so as to kill every 

 weed. This will get us a big step ahead in the 

 matter of keeping weeds off from the crop. 

 Now, with these transplanting-tubes select very 

 strong, vigorous plants while in bloom. Take 

 some of them with small green beri'ies on if 

 you choose. I am sure these can be moved 

 with scarcely a setback. Take them where the 

 plants are already too much crowded, and the 

 bed where they are taken from will yield fully 

 as much as before, and certainly give you larg- 

 er ones. Fill the holes that are made in said 

 bed with very lich compost. Now set the plants 

 removed on your nicely prepared mellow ground. 

 Keep the surface raked so as to keep weeds 

 from starting; and if you can afford the trouble, 

 I would keep the runners oft'; possibly the 

 crop may be a little later in consequence of the 

 transplanting. But this often gives a better 

 price, you know. Still another thing: To avoid 

 tramping on this soft, rich, mellow earth, I 

 would set them in plant-beds six feet wide. In 

 this way you can do all of the weeding and 

 gathering without setting a foot between the 



Elants. These plant-beds may be your ordinary 

 ot-beds or cold-frames, where the crop has 

 been removed. If a frost should threaten, it is 

 an easy matter to protect them with sash or 

 cloth. The latter can be used as friend Day 

 uses it on tomatoes, and I do believe it will pay 

 to raise a limited quantity of strawberries in 

 beds covered with cloth. The danger from 

 frost would thus be fiiit of the question; and by 

 having protection during cold nights they would 

 certainly be considerably ahead of the main 

 crop out in the tield. 



Terry, in the strawberry book, says that plants 

 in the matted row should not be nearei than 

 six inches; but in our rich plant-beds that I 

 have spokcm of I would have them about ten 

 inches apart — this, of cours(>. depending upon 

 how long the bed is to be allowed to bear. If 

 more than one year, more distance will h(! need- 

 ed, depending upon the variety; and for such 

 close distances tlio runners must be kept off, 

 and th<' plant not be allowed to make mon; 

 plants. In cutting runners, or even in gather- 

 ing the fruit, a plank may be put across the bed 

 from one side to the otlier, if found advisable. 



