Suggestive Experiences. 265 



"JACKSONVILLE, FLA., Dec. 23, 1878. 



" With pleasure, I answer your questions to the best of my ability. i. What 

 varieties of small fruits do best in your locality ? Strawberries and blackberries do 

 well, but owing to the abundance of wild fruit, late and early, the blackberry is not 

 cultivated largely. No other small fruits have been fairly tried. The general opinion 

 is that our warm weather lasts too long for the raspberry, gooseberry and currant. 

 I have given the raspberry a trial, and cannot recommend it. 2. What soils are best 

 adapted to them ? We have two soils on which the strawberry thrives, the low hum- 

 mock bordering on the river. It is rich in vegetable and mineral matter clay from 

 two to four feet under surface. The next is our pine land ; soil light, and of grayish 

 color, nearly devoid of vegetable matter, but largely supplied with lime and potash. 

 Strawberries and blackberries do well on this soil. We have what is termed high 

 hummock. It is a yellow loam, with clay, varying from two to six feet from surface. 

 The orange, peach, grape, fig, quince and plum do well on this soil. 3. What is 

 your mode of culture ? For strawberries, I lay off beds, slightly raised, 8 feet wide. 

 On each bed I put four rows of plants, running the full length of beds. For Wilsons 

 rows 1 8 inches, and 12 inches between plants. Charles Downing and Seth Boyden, 

 1 8 by 1 8 inches; cover all the space with pine-needles by the time warm weather 

 sets in, and shade their fruit from the hot sun. I cultivate with a small hand culti- 

 vator, partly invented by myself, and by hoeing. 4. What fertilizer do you consider 

 most efficient ? A compost of stable manure, muck, and potash. 5. What winter 

 protection do you give, if any ? None needed. For summer protection, pine straw 

 between plants ; this answers a double purpose : to keep the fruit clean, also to pro- 

 tect the plants in warm, dry weather, and retain moisture. 6. Do you consider 

 spring or fall the best season for planting in your locality ? If I have home-grown 

 plants, I prefer planting from last of August to first of December. Northern plants, 

 unless grown in pots, do best if obtained in November or December. I will add 

 here, for your information, Wilson's Albany is very shy of making runners for the 

 first year or two after coming from the North. Seth Boyden and Charles Downing 

 take possession of the ground after fruiting is over. 



WILLIAM JAMES." 



Mr. P. J. Berkmans, the well-known horticulturist of Augusta, Ga., 

 informed me that the Kentucky, Charles Downing, and Crescent endured 

 the southern sun well, and that the Captain Jack and Sharpless were fine 

 with them ; all the purple cane and black-cap raspberries did well, but none 

 of the foreign kinds thrived. Mr. Berkmans remarked that, even after ten 

 years of bearing, he hesitated to express a positive opinion concerning a 

 fruit, so great are the differences caused by location and soil. It is your 

 young men that have been two or three years in the business, who have 

 positive opinions on every subject. 



In the suburbs of Savannah, Ga., I found three-quarters of an acre of 

 strawberries that had yielded a clear profit of $800 in one season. The 

 preparation and culture for this profitable crop were as follows : A good 

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