Sept 
these who are the life of progressive horti¬ 
culture; it is these who are giving their time, 
energy, and life to the betterment of those 
who are to come after them. 
And after such a grower has labored earn¬ 
estly for some years in the production of new 
varieties, and has finally selected from among 
thousands one that in his opinion has reached 
points of merit far beyond anything he knows 
of, he wants its merits still further tested by 
placing it at some experiment station, along¬ 
side of the selects of the country, where 
above all other places the greatest scrutiny is 
needed and the most careful examination 
ought to be made. But, as I will attempt to 
show,such is not the case; it so happens that a 
careless and unconcerned thought, word, or a 
scratch of the pen by the examiner, may 
completely crush his most cherished hopes 
and drive his favorite into oblivion. Let us 
take the report on page 400, Rural, New- 
Yorker, July 14, 1888. We read: “Plants 
hardy June 15th; ripening freely. Large, 
scarlet berries, quite regular, fine quality. 
June 20th. On the whole, the Crawford dis¬ 
appoints us this year.” 
This is termed a report, but of what value 
is such a report to the owner or originator of 
any new fruit. The Rural has been disap¬ 
pointed. But can Mr. Crawford, or any one 
else tell what was looked for or expected? 
Shall we infer from the words “on the whole” 
that the Crawford possesses no points of merit 
whatever, and is therefore worthless? If this 
is not their meaning, they are yet alarming, 
and why alarm those who are watching the 
reports on the newer sorts without giving a 
cause of such alarm? 
Without further comments, let us pass down 
the column of reports until we reach the bot¬ 
tom and read what is said about the Lnhance. 
We begin—“Perfect flower, among the latest 
plants, stems often 18 inches tall. Late. June 
16. Abundance of green fruit. Berries very 
ill-shapen. June 20. Very productive. Bad 
shape, inferior quality. June 22. Now pro¬ 
ducing an immense quantity of its every- 
shape berries, some of which are of the larg¬ 
est size. It is one of the greatest producers, 
bears the largest berries of the most irregular 
shape and of the poorest quality we know of.” 
Can any one tell after reading this report 
whether the berries were red, white, black, or 
yellow. Color was entirely omitted. So also 
were firmness, the shipping and keeping qual¬ 
ities, etc., all of which are important charac¬ 
teristics and ought to be noted. 
If the Editor of the R. N-Y., will return to 
the reports of last season, ho will find that he 
says of the Enhance “quality good,” but 
“not very productive.” Now, whether the 
season, soil, or culture is the cause of the 
irregularity, or whether the same person wrote 
both reports I know not; it is clear, however, 
that they point in opposite directions. There 
is an appeal, then, from the words—“ poorest 
quality we know of.” Mr. M. Crawford 
speaks of the Enhance as possessing “ high 
flavor.” Mr. W. J. Green pronounces its 
quality good. My entire list of customers who 
have used the Enhance for two seasons might 
be added, and who preferred it to all others, 
but it is unnecessary. My own testimony, 
however, if not so weighty as that of the 
R. N-Y., yet may be taken for what it is 
worth. I “ know of ’ many berries poorer in 
quality than the Enhance. 
Let us see to what it may lead us if we allow 
ourselves to be guided only by quality and 
form in selecting our berries. A case in hand 
may briefly be noticed : At the great Exposi¬ 
tion at Philadelphia, in 1876, a variety of 
strawberries was exhibited which was only of 
medium size, but possessed excellent quality 
and beautiful form. Though there were many 
competing varieties, the so-called Centennial 
was awarded the prize. The j udges had before 
them only the berries ; they knew nothing 
about the habits of the plant, and being gov¬ 
erned solely by quality and form they could 
do no better than fix the prize to this variety. 
This induced many growers to procure plants 
at high prices. But how many are growing 
it now ? It has passed away, and no more 
mention is made of it in catalogues, price¬ 
lists, etc. 
I allude to this merely to show that the 
prize-takers do not always become the most 
popular, berries of the country ; moreover, 
that it is imprudent to condemn a variety be¬ 
cause our ideal is not in it, though it may just 
suit hundreds of others. So much for quality. 
If I mistake not, the Rural’s ideal shape of a 
strawberry is heart-shaped, so that any other 
shape to it is “ill-shapen” or “ bad shape.” 
Ada, Ohio. henry young. 
THE FERTILIZATION OF STRAW¬ 
BERRIES 
Disbelief in the necessity of staminate to 
fertilize pistillate varieties; few of the 
latter lack stamens enough to do so; no 
noticeable effect from the proximity of 
different varieties; doubts as to fertili¬ 
zation by insects or by winds; instances in 
corroboration of disbelief ; RuraVs obser¬ 
vations. __ 
We are constantly told of the need of setting 
staminate varieties of strawberries alongside 
of pistillates to fertilize them. Some profess 
to be such experts in this as to dictate what 
varieties are best for this purpose, as if they 
knew just what effect each variety has. Now, 
at the risk of being regarded as far behind 
the times, I record my serious doubts in re¬ 
gard to the whole matter. I do not doubt that 
stamens are necessary to the fructification of 
pistils, but there is reason to believe that few 
strawberries are so devoid of stamens as to 
fail of a crop. Some of my reasons are 
negative. In the cultivation of many 
varieties I have failed to see any different 
effect from different varieties—that is, a 
Manchester was always a Manchester whether 
near one staminate or another. Then the 
difficulty of the fertilization occurring between 
separate beds seems to be considerable. 
While working in my garden day after day, 
I observed no bees or insects of any kind 
among the strawberries during blooming 
time, up to the formation of berries. It 
looked as if crossing by insects was not done 
at all. The only other way could be by the 
wind, and this seems quite impracticable. In 
arguing this question every one is sure to 
bring up the example of the flying pollen of 
the corn tassel, a plant that is a striking ex. 
ception in the Vegetable Kingdom, the fact 
being that in many plants the fertilization is 
mostly from their own flowers, and in some 
entirely so. 
Now on the positive side I will offer only two 
instances, both told me .by Mr. J. H. Haynes, 
of Delphi, Ind., a grower of very large exper¬ 
ience. One was that on receiving Manchester 
plants he put a portion in a frame which he 
covered with netting and therein grew a good 
crop of berries. The other was that he plant¬ 
ed a part of a lot of Crescents a quarter of a 
mile away from any other berries, and had as 
good a crop from them as he had where they 
were near staminate sorts. More experiments 
should be made in this line. 
J. A. FOOTE. 
R. N-Y. We beg to offer a remark in 
this connection. We cultivate all the way 
from 50 to 150 different varieties of strawber¬ 
ries every season, and, as we have before of¬ 
ten remarked, we have never noticed but that 
pistillate varieties are always essentially the 
same. At any rate any difference from sea¬ 
son to season could rationally be explained by 
a difference in the season itself. 
Again, we have repeatedly seen that so-call¬ 
ed pistillate varieties were not strictly so. 
Upon many of the flowers there were, no 
stamens to be found, while others bore a few. 
Now there is no telling just how many flowers 
a single anther may fertilize when carried 
from flower to flower by insects many of 
which are so small, no doubt, as to escape no¬ 
tice. 
INDIANA WHEAT CROP. 
Acres 
Yield 
35 
97 
bushels 
35 
112 
38 
132 
25 
113 
55 
149 
25 
165 
213 
768 
bushels. 
I had cultivated until the ground was 
almost as fine as road dust, and I got about 
five bushels to the acre, w r hile my neighbor, 
a mile away, got 35 bushels, and he attributed 
my failure to working the ground too much. 
He is one of our best farmers and would not 
permit as much tillage as I gave my ground 
if it was proffered to him without cost. An¬ 
other of my neighbors also says I work my 
ground too much. 
I worked it so that I might say I deserved a 
good crop whether I got it or not, but they 
say I did not deserve one, because of too much 
tillage, and on the whole they are more suc¬ 
cessful than I am. Some years ago the 
Rural gave the experience of a farmer who 
had put his wheat ground in fine condition, 
and his neighbor who had slashed!his wheat 
among the weeds, had a better crop and the 
same thing occurred a second time. 
The whole season from beginning to end 
was unfavorable to wheat. For a week or 
ten days after my wheat was seeded, it was 
nearly as dry as if it had remained in the 
granary; then a rain came heavy enough to 
start the sprouts, but, to use the expression of 
a neighbor, “ there was just rain enough to 
malt it”. That, I think, was the case'and the 
light rain was' soonj evaporated and a good 
deal of the sprouted wheat dried up “mat¬ 
ted.” If there had been a heavy six- hours’ 
rain, the wheat in this immediate neighbor¬ 
hood would have gone into the winter in a 
much more vigorous condition. 
The yield over the 426 acres varies very 
widely, and the apparent causes of the differ¬ 
ence do not fully account for it. Fields that 
yielded 25 bushels to the acre had spots or 
strips in them ,with little or no wheat at all, 
and the rag-weed in those spots at thrashing 
time was as high as a horse. The shelter of 
the timber was the best protection our wheat 
had. While it does not account for all the 
disparity, it accounts for most of it. The bai 
wheat was mainly without shelter from the 
timber and the good was mostly within 
shelter. In the article published in the 
issue of the 11th inst., I spoke of the 
wide range in yield that neither soil nor 
culture accounted for. I think now, in view 
of this season’s experience, that timber shelter 
accounts for most of it. 
One of my neighbors had 431 bushels on 50 
acres, this year; on the farm adjoining the 
yield was five bushels more per acre: the first 
was exposed to the winds, while the second 
was sheltered by the timber. Last year the 
first had 1,000 bushels to 40 acres, or 24 bushels 
per acre. sam'l b. hoefgen. 
Great variations of yield on the same and 
adjacent farms; too much tillage injur¬ 
ious; an unfavorable season; good effects 
of timber shelter. 
In the issue of Aug. 11, the Rural has given 
the methods of wheat culture as practiced in 
different parts of the country. I here give the 
results, in part, of the crop in my immediate 
neighborhood. 
MULCHING WHEAT 
If you want any article for work in-doors 
or out of doors , we will tell you how you 
tan secure it with little cash outlay. Get 
subscriptions for the RURAL and the arti¬ 
cle is yours. 
This makes an average per acre of three 
bushels and three pecks, lacking a fraction: 
426 acres, of which the above is a part, 
yielded 3,498 bushels, being an average of eight 
bushels and a peck, lacking a fraction. This 
statement includes the 246 acres sown in the 
Fall of 1887, of which a considerable part was 
afterwards sown to oats, planted to corn, or 
pastured. 
The letter from an Ohio subscriber on the 
above topic given on page 577, with a brief 
answer from Prof. Sanborn, seems to be of 
great interest to farmers. Among the com¬ 
ments called out by it are the following: 
FROM F. P. ROOT. 
A reader of the Rural inquires if wheat 
and clover straw applied a£a mulch on wheat, 
before the setting in of winter will prevent 
winter-killing of the wheat plant by the 
action of frost. Wheat and clover straw will 
afford an excellent mulch, and will be greatly 
beneficial to the crop, especially in a season 
when the winter and spring are severe and 
damaging to the wheat plant, and no damage 
can arise from such mulch even in the most 
favorable season. A mulch on the surface of 
the ground in a growing wheat crop will be 
found beneficial in several w r ays:—L It tends 
to hold the snow in winter as a covering to 
prevent the action of severe frost. 2. It 
prevents the surface of the soil from becom¬ 
ing hard and crusted by the sun and drying 
winds of spring. 3. It affords a degree of shade 
about the roots of the plants, retaining moist¬ 
ure and in time of drought thus promoting lux 
uriance of growth. 4. It will so decay in sum¬ 
mer during the season of crop growth, as to 
afford, plant, food to the plant. 5. It will 
largely aid the germination of clover and grass 
seed which is commonly sown on the growing 
wheat land. The quantity needful to apply is 
not large, and yet no damage will arise to the 
growing crop from a liberal application, un¬ 
less so much is applied as to smother the 
plants. When mulching is used especially to 
protect the crop from winter freezing and 
heaving of the soil, it is usually applied at the 
setting in of winter ; but I think an early ap¬ 
plication is better and I can see no objection 
to its application immediately after seeding 
I have never seen it tried at that period, but 
intend to try an experiment on a few acres this 
coming season. I shall spread dry straw 
evenly over the ground immediately after 
drilling in the seed, and then pass over with a 
light roller to press it down to the ground to 
prevent its being carried by winds and left un¬ 
evenly. I think about two common wagon 
loads or a ton of straw per acre will be the 
quantity used; but a larger quantity I think 
would do no injury. In ordinary seasons I 
have seldom failed to produce a fair crop 
without extra treatment, as in mulching, but 
seasons like the past one render some protec¬ 
tion profitable and also imperative to the 
growing of a fair crop of wheat. Mr. T. B. 
Terry, of Ohio, reports an experi¬ 
ment in mulching last season on a 
small scale with very favorable results. 
He says about one acre in a field 
sown to wheat was of a rather poor and 
light soil. On about one-half of this plat he 
applied one load of straw, evenly spread on 
the approach of winter. It was very thin 
over the ground and he hardly expected any 
benefit from it, but to his disappointment 
this portion of the plat was a good crop, un¬ 
injured by winter, while the remainder of the 
field was a failure, and hardly worth the 
cost of harvesting. I had a field of wheat 
the past harvest which was nearly a failure, 
yielding probably less than ten bushels per 
acre which I have little doubt might have 
been made to produce 30 bushels by the 
application of a mulch of straw at a 
cost of three or four dollars per acre. The 
soil was very fine and dry at sowing time, 
and being largely a calcareous clay, when 
the fall of rain came upon it, it ran Together 
into a solid mass and when dried in spring it 
became as hard as a beaten road, in which a 
crop could not grow, nor could it stand th e 
heaving frosts, of J spring. A mulch of straw 
would have prevented the crusting, com¬ 
pacting and heaving of the soil, thus saving 
the crop. 
Monroe Co, N. Y. 
FROM H. T. FRENCH. 
In using straw or chaff for mulching it 
seems to me there is one very important con. 
sideration; that is, whether it would not bo 
better to use the straw for bedding, thereby 
converting it into manure, which can be used 
for top-dressing before the seed is applied. 
The matter of top-dressing with fine manure 
before seeding is an important one, and many 
unsightly and barren places in wheat fields 
might be remedied by such treatment. A 
few loads spread on the more exposed por¬ 
tions of the field would insure a good crop in 
most instances. The idea of mulching wheat 
is a new one to me, and is one which I am 
watching with much interest. It seems to mo 
that mulching cannot take the place of top- 
dressing; for with protection from winter¬ 
killing by top-dressing we get the additional 
virtue of its fertilizing properties. One point 
in favor of mulching is that the same amount 
of material composted would not cover so 
much ground. Wheat straw, if applied as a 
mulch, would have to be applied very spar¬ 
ingly; for I have noticed that where there is 
a thick mulch covering grass or grain it pre¬ 
vents the plants from stooling out. Clover 
haulm would make a very good mulch, I 
should think, for it is fine and can be evenly 
spread. As to the amount which will answer 
the purpose, it is hard to determine without 
knowing the conditions under which it is 
used; but I should think that a small load to 
the acre would be sufficient. Late in fall is 
the time to apply the mulch. 
Ag’l Coll., Mich. 
FROM COL. F. D. CURTIS. 
Wheat straw will make a most excellent 
mulch and prevent the wheat from freezing 
out. The mulch will also act as a manure. 
Such mulching will sometimes double the 
crop, or make a good crop when, if not so 
mulched,scarcely any thing would have grown. 
It should be applied as soon as the wheat is 
sown and harrowed in. It may be spread 
with forks quite evenly over the ground and 
the wheat will come up through it. This 
form of growing will help to secure the straw 
from blowing off or away, and then the 
young plants will have the benefit of the 
mulch at once. It may be put on thick if 
done as soon as the wheat is sown. The wheat 
will grow up through the straw fully an 
inch thick. If it is laid straight it will 
pack more; but if mixed up it can be put 
on two inches thick without smothering the 
young plants,as the shoots will easily penetrate 
the mass. The clover haulm is worth more to 
feed out ; but it will also make a good mulch 
not so good as the straw, as it will pack 
more, and if put on very thick will choke the 
wheat more. It should be put on right after- 
sowing. There is a horny point to the young 
plant and a stiffness, before the leaves are 
unfolded, which give it additional ability to 
push through obstructions. If spread in the 
later autumn or winter, the mulch must not 
be thick, or in clods. It can be spread on the 
frozen earth, or on the snow with excellent 
effect. It will help the seeding down or, in 
spring, as it furnishes nutriment, make mois¬ 
ture and help to cover the crop. 
Saratoga Co., N. Y. 
