DOWNING'S BRIDE (B). 
MEDIUM TO LATE. \Vc are greatly pleased with 
its behavior this year. It attracted general attention and 
visitors placed liberal orders so as to be sure of getting 
it. The berries piled up and were so rich we felt the 
necessity of preparing for a big demand. Pedigree, two 
selections. 
lies in the potency of their pollen and receiv- 
ing fluids and their freedom from seininal ex- 
haustion as well as full development of their 
fruit organs and they must have a fair chance 
to show these qualities. 
If I knew you were a lazy, shiftless fellow 
and would not take pride in having something 
nice and be above the ordinary and would 
put the plants in poor ground and give poor 
tillage, your order would be a damage to me 
and I would not accept it. 
Plants have no time to grow and develop 
their fruit organs and supporting vegetative 
parts when set in the hot, dry months of Au- 
gust and September, and besides all this we 
could not then furnish them at a price I would 
advise you to pay. Let thein have a whole 
summer and pick the blossoms the first spring 
so as to preserve the vigor at a time when 
they have not secured a rootage to support 
this exhaustive process; follow the cultural 
methods prescribed and you will find fun, 
money and pleasure in the business. 
POTTED PLANTS. 
Did anybody ever get a large crop of ber- 
ries on potted plants set in July and August? 
I did not inquire if you could get a few nice 
berries, I asked if you got enough to pay the high 
price of plants and the heavy express charges 
to say nothing of extra work in handling them. 
Such plants are generally pot bound and do 
not always make a vigorous growth. Possi- 
bly some persons have received satisfactory 
returns, but where one succeeds a dozen fail. 
We are growing plants to sell, but we waiit 
to sell them to be grown under favorable condi- 
tions and not otherwise. We get our enormuos 
trade by sending out the best possible plants 
that can be produced and when purchasers 
succeed in getting big returns our patronage 
is increased and the loss of a few orders to be 
grown under adverse circumstances is a bles- 
sing to us and the parties whose money and 
orders are refused, and for these reasons we do 
not pot plants in July and August. 
UP-TO-DATE (B). 
MEDIUM TO L.'\TE. Of the old Sharpless type 
both in form and flavor, but more hardy in blossom and 
reliable. All soils. Berries are dep red, moderately 
firm, especially valuable as a family berry. Pedigree, 
eight years. 
IRRIGATION. 
In breeding and develo])ing plants on a large 
scale irrigation is an absolute necessity, be- 
cause the requirements to be met are very dif- 
ferent from ordinary fruit growing. It is my 
mission on earth not merely to multiply plants, 
but to develop in them a strong fruit organism 
and support it with suitable vegetative parts 
so when it is sent to the fruit grower he can do 
the heavy work. 
Now, to accomplish this, the plants must 
be allowed to spread out over the ground so 
each one shall have plenty of room for root 
pastuirage and sunshine and so they must not 
be disturbed by the cultivator. I have already 
explained how the fruit grower can do this 
under the head of "Propagating Bed." Here, 
to bring out the best features of the plant it 
must be grown under the most perfect condi- 
tions. 
Notice there is no flooding at all, but a long 
narrow tooth is used as a furrower which 
breaks the ground as deeply as it is plowed, 
some two feet on each side of the row of 
plants. The water is turned into these ditches 
as seen in the photograph and all the satura- 
tion is in the subsoil so it is impossible to in- 
jure a plant by excessive amount of moisture 
for it keeps settling down until suspended by 
molecular adhesion and then gradually re- 
turns to the surface by capillary attraction 
making the feeding ground just moist enough 
to cause the plants to grow naturally and 
bring out their best qualities. 
Observe that a strawberry runner will not 
send down its roots unless the ground is 
moist. If the surface is dry, several plants 
will form on a single runner and thresh around 
in the wind and not root till the fall rains 
come and this is often too late for them to 
become woody and endure shipment and trans- 
planting. One of the reasons our plants all 
live is that the roots are mature as they root 
as quick as the node forms. Then again, if a 
plant does send down one or two roots no 
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