885 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER.' 
4S7 
writers. It is not expected by the author that 
his reader will do exactly as he has done or ad¬ 
vises, but that be may throw out some sugges¬ 
tions that will be of value. The fruit grower 
must in all cases be governed by his own 
judgment and common sense. I sometimes 
reproach myself, in making reports of my 
observation, for not stating more clearly that 
while I secure certain results on my place by 
certain methods, it should not be accepted as 
a foregone conclusion that others may secure 
the same results on their places. I take it for 
granted that the fruit-growing population 
understand this-poiut, ye^I fear many do 
not. In regard to the cultivation of straw¬ 
berries early in the season they are in bear¬ 
ing, I have giveu that question considerable 
study. We have left patches in the same field 
without cultivation or any molestation of 
roots, while other parts of the field were 
thoroughly cultivated; still other parts were 
cultivated very shallow. I have watched 
the results very closely, and have not been 
able to discover that early cultivation with a 
horse cultivator has been any disadvantage, 
but is rather a benefit. The cultivation has 
been given as early as the ground would ad¬ 
mit of it, and was designed to be shallow. 
Our soil is a strong clayey loam, and root 
growth here is undoubtedly different from 
that on sandy soil like that of the Rural 
Grounds. On light sandy soil the strawberry 
roots often spread over the surface, while on 
clayey loam with a rich sub soil, the roots pen¬ 
etrate deeply; therefore what might lie desir¬ 
able on our soil in the way of Spring cultiva¬ 
tion, might be disastrous on the Rural 
Grounds. The strawberries on our place are 
grown more for the plants than for the fruit. 
The plants are allowed to form in wide mat¬ 
ted rows, and early in the Spring they are 
dug out with a spading fork for replanting, 
leaviug the rows about six inches wide. The 
spadiug fork is often thrust down to its full 
leugth in digging these plants, and no par¬ 
ticular pains are taken not to molest the roots 
of those remaining. 
Immediately afterwards, the ground is 
thoroughly cultivated with a horse cultivator, 
and usually, after a week’s time, cultivated 
again, as the digging of the plants when the 
ground is rather moist, aud the tread on the 
ground by the men and boys, do not leave 
it in very good condition. Such treatment as 
this would be considered as destructive to the 
strawberry crop on the plants remaining, by 
those who hold that the strawberry should not 
be molested the season it fruits. Notwith¬ 
standing, we generally secure a very good crop 
by this treatment. I have, however, had 
some misgivings about advising the public at 
large to cultivate strawberries tbe season they 
are bearing fruit, and I am inclined to the 
opinion now that the safest advice, taking the 
country over, would be not to cultivate. 
There is no definite rule that would apply to 
all cases and methods of culture. There are 
as mauy methods of cultivating strawberries 
as there are varieties. There is a class of 
growers, who receive aa average of from 15 
to 25 cents per quart for their entire crop. 
Members of this class are uot limited in the 
amount of labor aud fertilizer they bestow 
upon their crop, as they are certain of ample 
rewards when they go to market. There is 
another class, like the grower# about Roches¬ 
ter, N. Y., who are in active competition with 
hundreds of large growers, who are obliged 
to market their berries at an average of six 
cents per quart, or even less. This class are 
compelled to economize in every possible way 
—to give as little baud culture as possible, for 
otherwise they would secure no profits. 
At the American Institute exhibition of 
strawberries Mr. K. P, Roe and Mr. P. T. 
Quiun stated their objections to spring culti¬ 
vation. Mr. Durand also thought that it was 
very hazardous to disturb the strawberry 
roots before fruiting. Thu statements of such 
men as these are worthy of respect, and I do 
not doubt but that with them, and their 
methods of culture, it would lie objectionable. 
All of these gentlemen receive large prices 
for their strawberries, as they live near a 
fancy market, therefore they give much hand 
cultivation. Mr. Quinn hoes his strawberries 
twice in Spring before fruiting time, remov¬ 
ing the mulch for this purpose, aud replacing 
it again after the last hoeiug. This laborious 
proceeding would be profitable only where 
high prices wore received for the fruit. 
Some soils are naturally inclined to grass 
and various crops of weeds that spring up 
after the most thorough cultivation, summer- 
tallowing, and the greatest possible prepara¬ 
tion. On such soil it is desirable to cultivate 
between the rows to destroy troublesome 
weeds that would over-shadow the plants and 
be a serious objection. There are other soilB 
that remain comparatively clean, with careful 
cultivation the previous season. On such soils 
spriug cultivation is not so necessary,as the few 
weeds that grow do not attain great size, and 
are partially subdued by the tread of the 
pickers as they gather the fruit. Where the 
weeds are not numerous along the alleys, it is 
desirable not to cultivate, for the reason that 
the berries will be cleaner without cultivation 
than with, also for the further reason that in 
many soils the root growth is near the surface 
and damage will be done by cultivation. I 
am aware that on any soil there are many roots 
severed by spring cultivation: but my opinion 
has been that new roots are formed in a very 
short time, that-enable the plant to perfect its 
crop, assisted by the larger portion of the 
roots that were undisturbed. 
Mr. Samuel Miller, a veteran strawberry 
grower of Missouri, stated recently that the 
idea of not cultivating strawberries in the 
Spring is erroneous. He stated that he hoed 
and dressed rows that were benefited by it, 
and that in one place where his dog dug out and 
almost completely destroyed about a square 
rod of plants.the soil was afterwards leveled off 
aud the plants that were not entirely de¬ 
stroyed were better than those on the surround¬ 
ing parts left undisturbed. He does not 
recommend cultivating so deep as to cut the 
roots; but he thinks shallow cultivation and 
the replacing of the mulch are likely to do 
more good than harm. I find in my travels 
that there are others who go even further than 
this, and considA that frequent cultivation up 
to near fruiting time, especially in old planta¬ 
tions, is desirable. 
In my opinion the safe course for straw¬ 
berry growers is to give no cultivation at all 
on a large scale, until they have tested the 
matter thoroughly on their own grounds. 
They cannot decide from the experiments of 
others as to what would be profitable for 
them, and “No Cultivation’’ is certainly safe 
advice until they have become informed by 
personal experience. 
******** 
Since writing the above, I have visited tbe 
pickers at worn in a field of strawberries 
plauted one year ago last Spring. Last July 
this was a beautiful plantation, but in August 
the white grub took possession of the grouuds, 
and, in spite of all our efforts, left many 
blank patches throughout the field. This was 
repeatedly cultivated last Spriug with a 
horse cultivator, the grouud being quite 
clayey and IiablB to bake. I have examined 
it over and over again to learn the effect of 
the spriug cultivation. One would expect to 
find fewer berries and smaller ones along the 
outskirts of the row where the cultivator 
passed, and, of course, cut some of the root?, 
and would expect to find the largest berries 
where tho continuous row was broken by the 
white grub; such, however, is not the case; 
the berries are largest aud in the greatest 
abundance directly along the path of the cul¬ 
tivator on either side. The soil adjoining the 
vacancies in the rows hits become quite hard, 
and the strawberries adjoining are not fruit¬ 
ing so well. A picker coming in from an ad¬ 
jacent field called my attention to a double 
handful of strawberries he had picked on the 
former site of an old strawberry plantation. 
The berries were as large as any I have seen 
this year at auy exhibition, fruit stand or 
fruit farm. They were magnificent speci¬ 
mens, resembling the Sharpless, but more 
regular in form, more finely colored and dif¬ 
fering in flavor, I jumped over the fence 
and examined more closely where they came 
from. I found what appeared to be a seed¬ 
ling of the Sbarpless growing in a wild state 
under the shade of trees, and where no culti¬ 
vation of any kind had been given this sea¬ 
son. Here was evidence in favor of no culti¬ 
vation, and as 1 desire to discuss both sides of 
the question. I will go further iu this line. 
When tho Great Americau Strawberry was 
introduced, we planted it with great expecta¬ 
tions, giving it the best culture possible, but it 
gradually grew smaller aui smaller iu size of 
plant, and was very unsatisfactory In iLs pro¬ 
duction of fruit. One end of the Great Amer¬ 
icau bed was adjoining a meadow of Timothy. 
After the bed had been plowed under and a 
long adieu given that variety, I happened to 
pass through that end of the Timot hy meadow 
one day in the strawberry season. To my 
astonishment 1 saw, growiug iu Timothy two 
or throe feet high, tho finest Great American 
Strawberries I had overseen on our place, aud 
the plants seemed to exceed iu vigor of growth 
those I had petted so carefully. Here was 
something of a puzzle. The Great American 
was supposed to require tbe highest cultivation 
and uot to thrive if neglected, aud yet here it 
was succeeding under the most adverse cir¬ 
cumstances, with absolutely no cultivation. 
All of this evidence tends to show that we 
can not lay down positive rules, or be eertaiu 
that one course of procedure is preferable to 
another under varying conditions. Tho sea¬ 
sons vary so much in degrees of temperature, 
in aiuouut of rainfall, and in the amount of 
sunshine or cloudy weather, we may attribute 
to culture that which should be credited to 
other influences. I think you will see that I 
do not desire to be dogmatic over this question 
of strawberry culture the season of fruiting. 
While I have practiced it with benefit, I would 
not advise it blindly to others; and it is pos¬ 
sible that in some particular seasons it might 
not be desirable even on our soil. 
.Clifton, N. Y. 
FLOWER HUMBUGS. 
Has there ever been a greater humbug 
than “White Upright Mignonette,” in the list 
of flower seeds? It is provoking to sow the 
seeds, transplant and care for them, only to 
find an ill-looking weed, which is no more like 
mignonette than it is like catnip, and which is 
entirely worthless for any purpose. Stevia 
naua is another plant of no value to those 
who have used the 8, serrata in cut flower 
work, aud I have suspected that Asparagus 
tenuissimus will never be nsed in decoration 
instead of smilax. So far as I can see from 
my young plants, it will only look like a fine 
sort of asparagus which no one would like to 
use, iu even a basket of flowers, where ferns 
or smilax have been always appropriate. G.w. 
Pariott5. 
GRASS AND STOCK NOTES. 
B. F. JOHNSON. 
A striking peculiarity of the black prairie 
soil, compared with tbe brown, yellow, and 
gray clays and clay loams of the winter wheat 
regions, is that the former favors the growth 
of Blue Gra»s seed and White Clover, while 
the latter inclines to Timothy and Red Top, 
where the soil is only fairly good, and to 
Timothy and White Clover where first -class. 
Thus in towns and cities of some population, 
where an improved and cultivated public sen¬ 
timent prevails, and stock is not allowed to 
run at large, the uuoccupied portion of the 
streets and roads on the black soil, bear heavy 
growths of Blue Grass and Red and White 
Clover: but on the clays the herbage is con¬ 
fined to Timothy and Red Top and White 
Clover; as for example, iu Kinmundy, in 
Marion County, 225 tniies south of Chicago, 
Timothy Grass lines all but the busiest streets 
as tall as one's knees, and White Clover car¬ 
pets every spot not occupied by Timothy. At 
Mt. Pulaski, in Logan County, a town of 
venerable age, the streets’ sides are more than 
knee-deep with Blue Grass and the Red aud 
White Clovers. The first named place is on 
the clays, and the other on the black soil. 
But when the black soil is removed and the 
yellow clay loam below it exposed, the subsoil 
is found to possess just the saute liking for 
Timothy as the southern clays aud clay loams. 
When opening a drain to tile across a Blue 
Grass pasture or meadow, if the top soil is 
thrown in first when filling it up, in a few 
years there will appear a band of Timothy 
over the line of the drain. In a skating park 
gone into disuse and situated within a few 
rods from where I write, on the bottom from 
which the black soil was removed, Timothy is 
growing from two to three feet high, while on 
the embankment around, where the black soil 
is from three to four feet deep, the heavy 
growth of Red Clover aud Blue Grass is a sight 
to see. I make these paragraphs to show the 
aptitude of the different soils of Che State for 
the different grasses and clovers, and, further, 
to say that all examples are the result of vol¬ 
unteer seediug, and all go to demonstrate 
what true grass aud clover soils the soils of 
Illinois are, whether at the middle, north or 
south. 
Can nutritious grasses aud clovers be success¬ 
fully grown on a poor and thin soil; that is, 
without the aid of manures or fertilizers? It 
is, at least, very doubtful. The thinnest and 
poorest lands are frequently well set iu grasses 
of various kinds; as, for example, the Wire 
Grass of the Southeast and Florida, and the 
everlasting and everpresent Broom Sedge of 
the older settled States; yet neither of these 
is nutritious enough to prevent stock feeding 
where they are abundant, from looking as if 
half starved so far as fat and flesh are con¬ 
cerned. But there is no lack of bone and 
horn, and from the capacity oxen and 
horses show for standing hard work uuder a 
hot climate, they must possess large nerves 
and strong muscles, which is another name 
for great vital force. If, then, Southern 
grasses do not contain the elements which 
make fat and flesh as the Northern grasses do, 
they impart health aud vigor, aud in this we 
see the compensation which equalizes in some 
measure the one with the other. 
Within a few years a great variety of new 
grasses and clovers have made their appear¬ 
ance on the abandoned and worn-out cotton 
and corn lands of the Southern States. Among 
these are Broom Sedge aud Bermuda Grass 
now to be found almost everywhere, while 
others are showiug themselves here and there 
numerously. The clovers, too, have appear¬ 
ed in force, Japan Clover leading, and not far 
behind it California Clover, Buffalo Clover, 
and half a dozen others; yet not one of these 
possesses a tithe of the nutritive value of the 
leading grasses and ci avers of the North- 
Blue Grass and Timothy,Red and White Clover 
—and Southern stock to-day looks no better 
than it did 30 years ago. No; nutritious 
grasses do not grow on thin, poor land, wheth¬ 
er North or South, and the farmers and 
stockmen of the cotton belt, if they would 
have nutritious herbage, must first manure 
and fertilize and then cultivate Alfalfa, Crim¬ 
son Clover, or some other valuable annual 
clover or grass on their thin lands, and 
depend on sorghum and Alfalfa on lands 
which are deep, rich, and well drained. 
The tonid salt and the stimulant pepper are 
consumed much more largely in hot countries 
than iucool. The indigene of South America 
in the tropics will eat with avidity a stew 
made of the finest variety of pepper grown, 
and relish it; at the same time he takes his 
soup so salt that, to the Northern palate, the 
liquid tAstes like brine. These facts, the re¬ 
sult of physiological causes, suggest whether 
stock does not require more salt in warm 
regions than in cooler; and whether pepper 
would not be found a valuable addition to 
stock rations during the depressing heat of 
tbe Summer and in and after periods of 
drought. 
I suspect milch cows and mares with foals 
at their sides seldom get too much salt, and 
very often not enough. Hence it appears as 
if the stronger the grasses as to quality and 
growth, tbe more saltisdemanded. Ibadsup- 
posed it sufficient to salt mares with foals by 
their sides once or twice a week, but I know 
of one, and a good one, in fine health and con¬ 
dition, on a pasture of first-rate excellence, 
that will eat salt daily, and with as much 
relish as a child sugar; while four or five 
first-class milch cows associated with her con¬ 
sume more than half as much. Iu southern, 
swampy countries, horses, cattle, sheep, 
mules and hogs suffer from malarial causes to 
an extent few persons North have a concep¬ 
tion of; and it may be if salt were always 
within their reach, it might act in a measure 
as an antidote^ or, better, perhaps, as a pro¬ 
phylactic against the malaria. 
Looking over an authentic report giving 
an account of the life of a Jersey in his or 
her native island, I was surprised to learn 
that when in the stable, the daily ration con¬ 
sists of four or five pounds of dry food (in¬ 
cluding hay, I suppose) to 30 pounds of roots, 
the latter consisting of parsnips, Swedish 
turnips, round turnips, carrots, cabbages and 
maugolds, each in its season. This seems 
to be a very short ration, compared with the 
way Jersey cows are fed on this side, and may 
account in part for some of the disasters not 
uncommon to this choice breed, previous to 
and after parturition. 
An Illinois milkman of a good deal of ex¬ 
perience, who uever milks cows in calf and 
will have no Jersey in his herd, but half 
breeds mostly of auy other cross, tells me he 
finds 16 pounds of good bay with clover ia it 
and 16 pounds of feed, the preparation to 
promote the largest flow of milk. He prefers 
for milk, ground wheat screenings to any¬ 
thing else, and of this he feeds 16 pounds daily 
in the messes. The next best feed he con¬ 
siders to be half wheat bran and half corn 
meal, fed as above. Aud by the way, with 
oats at hand and cheaper, he prefers to feed 
corn in connection with bran to his horses 
which do fast work. To 1,900 to 1,400-pound 
horses he gives 10 to 13 good-sized ears a day, 
with unlimited hay, between and just that 
amount daily which makes the digestion 
healthy and complete. He says these rations 
are preferable to hay and oats for hot weather 
aud for cold; shat they keep the horses iu a 
more satisfactory state of health and strength, 
which he judges of a good deal by the bright¬ 
ness of their coats. 
£!)( Poullnj-UariX 
WINTER PRODUCTION OF EGGS OF 
TEN MINORCA FOWLS. 
Mr. J. F. Rogers, of Norwich, England, 
writes to the Londou Agricultural Gazette, 
that his six Minorca hens and four pullets, 
commenced laying towards the end of last 
November, and up to December 31, they layed 
39 eggs; in January 95; February 147; March 
199; total 480 eggs—au average of 48 to each 
hem This is doing much better during the 
Winter than most other breeds, excelling per¬ 
haps even the abundant laying sorts—the 
Hamburg and Leghorn. The latter, we are 
informed, are an offshoot of the Minorca?, or 
nuv versa. The above eggs, the writer says, 
were unusually large and meaty averaging 
in weight seven and sometimes six to the 
pound. The eggs of the latter weight are 
about equal to those of the Houdan, which 
lays the largest eggs of any fowls we have 
ever kept; but the advantage in keeping Mi- 
