608 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



small fruits, I want to inquire about the Antwerp raspberry, 

 whether those who buried the canes the last winter have lost 

 them. Mine are all dead, and so are my neighbors. Have they 

 done so with the members of the Club and fruit-growers generally ? 

 They have done so here for the last two winters. What is the 

 cause 1 



R. G. Pardee — It was simply the result of experience that con- 

 vinced me that strawberries had been and could be cultivated for 

 fifty cents per bushel, besides the expense of gathering. That 

 cautious writer and experienced cultivator, John J. Thomas, of 

 Western New- York, has also testified to the same fact. An ap- 

 plication of large quantities of barn-yard manure will over stimu- 

 late the strawberry plant, and it will fail to yield a large crop of 

 fruit. This, however, can be counteracted by an application of 

 eight parts of ashes, two parts shell lime, one part plaster, and 

 half a part of salt, applied to the land, and mixed in a few days 

 before planting. 



The ordinary market cultivators, around New- York, obtain only 

 thirty to forty bushels per acre, when a good crop intelligently 

 cultivated, ought to produce one hundred to one hundred and 

 fifty bushels per acre, when every thing is favorable. 



Rich land will produce vines, but it will not profitably produce 

 fruit. Strawberry vines are gross feeders, and if upon a soil too 

 rich, they overfeed themselves and bear no fruit. 



The Chairman spoke highly of the Alpine variety of strawber- 

 ries. He said I know that lime is valuable upon strawberry beds. 



Prof. Mapes — I have often observed that the flavor of the wild 

 strawberries was superior to the strawberries grown in our gar- 

 dens. The flavor of strawberries is all in the outside, and hence 

 the small varieties and wild berries are so highly esteemed. Wa- 

 tering beds with diluted tan-bark liquor is highly beneficial. All 

 inorganic substances are better than animal substances for ma- 

 nuring strawberries. 



Mr. Bergen asked if other lime would answer as well as oyster- 

 shell lime 1 



