THE WHOLE FAMILY INTERESTED. 
HERE is a typical scene; typical because it so well expresses the fact that the strawberry patch, when it is what 
it ought to be, and nearly always may be, invariably becomes the center of family interest. The scene is 
the home of Dr. J. M. Hale of Mt. Vernon, Ind. , and the Doctor writes us that this small patch of Kellogg 
Thoroughbred plants yielded "at least twelve gallons of fine, luscious berries, and I am satisfied several gallons 
went to waste on account of our appetites' demanding the larger ones; we allowed the smaller ones to go to waste." 
and that a profitable crop largely depends upon 
plant selection; but it is not good business judg- 
ment to depend upon this one feature alone. It 
would be just as reasonable to expect big returns 
from a cow, regardless of care and feed, simply 
because she is a thoroughbred. Loretta D., the 
world's best Jersey, has proved that by com- 
bining careful breeding with intelligent care and 
feeding, a pound of butter-fat can be produced 
at a much less expense than could possibly be 
done by omitting any one of these three essen- 
tial features. The very fact that she netted her 
proud owner $67.74 in four months is an over- 
powering argument. These principles of breed- 
ing were carried out in our experiments with 
the purpose to increase the size and yield of fruit. 
As the Isreeding of our plants already had been 
carried on for a number of years, the first thing 
for us to do was to make ideal soil conditions 
by working in an abundance of well-rotted ma- 
nure and thoroughly incorporating it with the 
soil grains, after which it was made firm by roll- 
ing; then enough plants to set one row of each 
variety were selected from the breeding bed; cul- 
tivation and hoeing were begun immediately 
after the plants were set, and repeated in six 
days; after this, every ten days until it rained. 
Following each rain cultivators and hoemen were 
put to work just as soon as the soil would crum- 
ble. When runners started each row was 
divided into three sections, so that each variety 
could be tested under the three most popular 
systems; namely: single hedge row, double hedge 
and narrow matted rows, for the purpose of de- 
termining the most profitable way to grow them, 
the result of which is given of each variety un- 
der respective descriptions. 
Before any runners were layered the physical 
condition of each mother plant was taken into 
consideration; all those that were strong and 
vigorous were allowed to set their first offspring, 
but if any were found lagging or backward in 
growth, they were forced into greater activity by 
relieving them of their first runners, thus giving 
us only strong plants that were able to do heavy 
work. 
Just before the ground was frozen we covered 
the plants with fresh stable manure, putting the 
strawy part directly on the rows and all decayed 
matter between them. In the spring when 
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