60 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



SECOND DAY. FORENOON. 



PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE WITH SMALL FRUITS. 



At the opening of the session on the second da\', the Secretary 

 read the following letter from Mr. I. C. Jackson of Vassalboro', 

 giving his experience in the culture of the small fruits. 



Dear Sir : — In reply to your letter of inquiry in regard to my ex- 

 perience in the culture of small fruits, I will say that in 1874 I 

 commenced with the cultivation of strawberries, setting about one- 

 sixth of an acre with Wilson, Col. Cheney, Green Prolific, French, 

 Downer and Nicanor varieties. Soil, rock}' loam and badly run out ; 

 put a little old manure around plants, when set. The next season, 

 I sold $33.00 worth ; have forgotten the number of quarts taken off 

 and also the price received per quart. The same season, setting 

 enough more plants to enlarge the piece to three fourths of an acre, 

 and using no manure, except a crop of green oats plowed under the 

 preceding summer. During the season of 1876 sold 1504 quarts at 

 seventeen cents per quart. The cost of cultivation and winter pro- 

 tection was about $30.00. 



Having sorrel, barn-grass, and honey-suckle to contend against, 

 this is the onh' crop of strawberries in the nine years of m}- experi- 

 ence that I consider worth mentioning. Taking in consideration the 

 cost of setting and cultivating on rock}' soil, the weeding being done 

 mostly by hand, as I grew them in matted rows ; also the liability of 

 late spring frosts when they were in blossom, and the cost of covering 

 them, I do not consider them a profitable crop with me, though I 

 think they would do much better on clay loam land. 



In 1880 I planted one-sixth of an acre with Philadelphia Red 

 Raspberry ; also, about the same amount of land with Mammoth 

 Cluster and Davidson's Thornless Black Raspberry. The land 

 being in a fair condition, used but one shovelful of well-rotted barn- 

 3'ard manure to the hill with the Red Raspberry, setting them two 

 and one-half by four feet. With the Blacks I used no dressing 

 whatever, setting them three by six feet. The next season sold 

 ninety-six quarts Red and ninety-six Black, at fifteen cents per 

 quart. 



