1897 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
239 
practically, the loss of a season’s growth, and a shock 
which is hardly overcome, even in two seasons fol¬ 
lowing. 
A like case is the neglect of pruning, a single year 
of which is never less than a serious injury to any 
fruit tree. Without proper vigilance, dozens of shoots 
will spring out and grow, to the injury of the tree, 
not only for that season, but for a considerable time 
after. “Thumb-nail” pruning is always the best, 
because it leaves no wound that will not cover itself 
the same season. Every observer can see that this is 
true ; but many orchards show a neglect to apply the 
truth. I do not like to quote instances from my own 
experience. I have, perhaps, made as many mistakes 
as any one, but I have tried to draw profit from them. 
At the age of G8, I am now caring for young orchards 
planted within the past six years, and beginning to 
come into bearing, being, perhaps, 10 feet high as an 
average, and having yielded, the past season, good 
crops on a considerable proportion of the trees. As 
this orchard is on a main road, it has been growing 
under the eyes of many intelligent observers, who 
sometimes stop to “look me over”. I note that their 
principal observations refer to the evenness of growth 
and the already free fruitage of many varieties. The 
latter is, unquestionably, due to the fact that they 
are mainly of Russian origin, most of these having 
the habit of early bearing much more pronounced 
than the apples of western Europe. Another thing 
which attracts attention is the growth and fruitage 
of many pears, plums, cherries and grapes; none 
having been planted more than six years, which 
is the limit of my ownership. The same character¬ 
istics appear in Mr. Gideon’s seedling apples— 
Wealthy, Gideon, etc.,—which bear a strong resem¬ 
blance to the Russians, and are, I think, mainly crosses 
between the west European apple and the 
Siberian crab. 
The great struggle of the tree-fruit grow¬ 
ers of northern New England, Canada, and 
the more northerly States of the Middle West, 
has been to secure such valuable sorts as shall 
be hardy in tree against low winter tempera¬ 
ture, of good size, form, quality and color, 
productive, and sufficiently long keepers to be 
equal to the best varieties of the old stock. 
Thirty years of trial have taught us that very 
few of the old stock, originally imported from 
Europe, will endure our test winters as to tree, 
and at the same time, be of sufficiently high 
quality and productiveness to be profitably 
grown in competition with the fruit of south¬ 
ern New England, New York and the Middle 
States generally. Rut the fact that such have 
been found—in comparatively small number, 
it is true—has been a support to constant effort 
and careful investigation. Time is essential 
in all such studies, time, patience and effort. 
I had the happiness to give to the cold North 
Scott’s Winter. I have found its superior in 
the Russian Baldwin, samples of which I sent to The 
R. N.-Y. two years since, and which I again send that 
its keeping quality may be tested so far south as 
New York City. If it meet The R. N.-Y.’s approval, 
I hope to place it in the hands of some reliable nurs¬ 
ery firm for propagation. t. h. hoskins. 
Vermont. 
R. N.-Y.—The apple reached us in February in ex¬ 
cellent condition, sound and firm. To our taste, the 
flavor is superior to that of Baldwin. 
see it catalogued. Any variety may be grown in hills 
successfully, but the labor of cutting off the runners, 
which must be done faithfully, is much greater with 
some than with others. Those who know how and 
will do their best, will make some money, and get a 
good deal of pleasure in raising choice fruit; but there 
is little encouragement to raise common berries that 
must be sold at a low price, if sold at all. Careful 
attention to all the details will bring success regard¬ 
less of the method. There will be no success with 
hill culture under neglect. M. cbawfobd. 
Summit County, O. 
Parker Earles in Hills. 
Our method is the hill system, and narrow, matted 
rows. Our work is to give each plant an opportunity 
to do its best. Strawberry plants want food, water 
and sunshine ; these may be better obtained than 
when plants are grown in the thick, matted rows In 
growing strawberries in hills, we get something 
choice, and they yield much greater satisfaction. In 
1894, we set out 1,200 Parker Earle plants, 18 by 18 
inches apart; in 1895, we picked and sold from the 
1,200 plants, 2,600 quarts of berries. The cost for 
plants, picking, baskets, labor, fertilizers, etc., was 
$82.50 ; net returns, $177.50. For hill culture, use 
Parker Earle ; for the narrow matted rows, Glen 
Mary, Bubach No. 5, Greenville, Gardner, Marshall 
and Mary. t. C. keyitt. 
Passaic County, N. J. 
Hill Culture Doesn’t Pay Here. 
Hill culture has never paid in these parts ; the 
reason is, I think, because of the soil, and that grow¬ 
ers do not understand the exact details. I have tried 
it to a limited extent, with poor results. The extra 
HILLS OR ROWS FOR STRAWBERRIES. 
A number of your subscribers would like the views and experi¬ 
ences of the various growers relative to growing strawberries in 
bills, narrow rows (where the plants are allowed to run just 
enough to have a row of single plants about two to four inches 
apart), and the wide matted row. Experience is desired particu¬ 
larly upon the relative yield, quality, ease of cultivation, cost of 
picking, etc., and last, but not least, relative net returns, f. g. t. 
Oswego County, N. Y. 
Must Not Neglect the Hills. 
All things considered, I regard hill culture as the 
ideal method. By this plan, each plant has room for 
development, and will do its best in producing a large 
crop of first-class berries. With plenty of air and 
sunshine, the fruit will reach its highest perfection 
in regard to color, flavor and firmness. With each 
plant standing alone, the cultivating, hoeing, weed¬ 
ing and mulching are done in the easiest way, and 
the tedious and disagreeable work of pulling out 
weeds from among the runners is avoided. This is 
the method adopted by nearly all the Barnesville 
growers, whose berries have become famous all over 
the country. 
A knowledge of varieties is one of the conditions of 
success. If one has the proper soil, the Parker Earle 
is one of the very best for hill culture, as it develops 
a large number of crowns without sending out many 
runners. The Jewell is another that gave great sat¬ 
isfaction, but it makes so few runners that we rarely 
THE RUSSIAN BALDWIN APPLE. Fig. 103. 
labor of keeping the runners off, and more careful 
attention, are not rewarded with me by better crops 
and larger berries. The Geneva Experiment Station 
found that the berries grown on matted rows were 
larger than those in hills, and the yield was better. 
This has been my experience. Plants grown in hills 
do not stand the winters so well on our heavy soil ; 
they heave out and are killed. Hill plants must be 
carefully mulched to keep down the weeds, else they 
will smother the plants, and also, to prevent drying 
out in the fruiting season. The sun has all the 
advantage around the small hills ; it tends to dry out 
the soil, and getting at the berries so readily, they 
ripen prematurely and all in a heap. Hills suffer 
more from frosts killing the blossoms, for the same 
reason. There is no use trying growing strawberries 
in hills in this cold section. 
In regard to the wide and narrow rows, I believe in 
the row about two feet wide, and the plants evenly 
distributed over the row, say five inches apart. The 
foliage ought to cover the surface over the row so 
that the sun cannot reach the soil between the plants. 
The path between the rows ought to be well mulched. 
The disadvantage of the matted row over the hill 
method is that the individual plants cannot all be so 
carefully hoed. It is some work even with small hoes 
to stir in and around the plants. The wide matted 
rows are undesirable because they sap the moisture 
all out of the soil in order to support the growth of 
foliage. Then, too, there are many little plants that 
are too small to bear a crop of fruit. The secret of 
success in growing large crops of fruit is in liberal 
fertilizing and restricting the growth by cutting 
back. If we allow all the runners to set plants, the 
crop of fruit will be small and inferior. We must 
begin early and keep cutting back continually. A 
wide matted row will, possibly, winter better than 
narrow rows, especially if not well mulched ; but this 
is the only advantage. 
In regard to having a row of plants an even distance 
apart on each side of the row, the plan which F. G. T 
mentions, I think is a good scheme. Growers are 
beginning to see that it is far better to confine their 
operations to a few acres each rather than to spread 
over several acres and give the necessary poor care. 
There are men in this locality who received nearly 
$1,000 per acre from their berries the past year. It 
was accomplished only by high culture and liberal 
manuring. They put as much labor on an acre as the 
average 50-aere farmer does on his whole farm. The 
results you can see warrant the expenditure. In re¬ 
gard to the comparative cost of caring for matted 
rows that are wide or narrow, I cannot say. Of 
course the narrow rows cost more hand labor, but I 
am sure that this is well spent time, and is repaid 
several times over in the extra crops of fruit and fine 
quality. l. j. farmer. 
Oswego County, N. Y. 
From a Texas Standpoint. 
For general practice in market planting, where land 
is cheap and labor high, I prefer the narrow matted 
rows, 3*^ feet from center to center, to hill culture, 
because, in the matted-row system, 3% feet by 1% 
foot (the proper distance to set), 9,350 plants can be 
put on an acre, while in hill culture, if planted as 
close as possible and yet allow horse cultivation, 
which is three feet apart each way, only 4,840 plants 
can be set per acre. As a consequence, more berries 
can be raised in the matted rows, and the picking can 
be done more economically, the berries will keep 
cleaner, the expense of mulching is less, and if the 
rows are kept narrow—not over 10 or 12 inches wide— 
just as fine berries can be grown. But for small gar¬ 
den plots, especially where space is limited, and cul¬ 
tivation is by hand, I would grow in hills 18 inches 
apart each way. This would give 19,360 hills to 
the acre. Where land is very high in price, 
and labor cheap, I would use hill culture 18 
inches apart between hills each way, in grow¬ 
ing for market. t. v. mu^son. 
Grayson County, Texas. 
J. H. Hale’s Opinion. 
Whether to grow in hills, narrow matted 
rows, or otherwise, depends something upon 
the variety, but with most standard varieties, 
where there is an abundance of manure and 
moisture, rows set three feet apart and runners 
enough allowed to take root to make a matted 
bed 15 inches wide, but no plant in this mat 
nearer than six inches from any other plant, 
probably will give the greatest yield of No. 1 
berries. The hill system will not give quite so 
many quarts as this, but the size, color and 
texture of the fruit are likely to be better. 
Some form these matted beds by placing the 
runners just where they want the plants to 
root, and when enough are secured, pinch off 
all others ; while another plan is to let the bed 
mat freely till about the first of September, and then 
thin out the plants to about six inches apart. 
Hartford County, Conn. 
Prefers the Matted Row. 
The matted-row system is the best for the most 
profitable and satisfactory results. The rows should 
be 15 inches wide. If the plants are set the proper 
distance apart between the rows, this will leave plenty 
of room for cultivation, and the plants should be cul¬ 
tivated as early in the spring as the ground is fit to 
work, and every 10 days afterwards up to the time of 
blooming. Of course, this cultivation must be shallow, 
and care must be taken not to go too close to the 
plants. When the strawberries are fruited in this 
way, they will produce, at least, double the amount 
of fruit as when grown in hills, no matter what the 
varieties may be. It is true that some varieties like 
Parker Earle will do better than other varieties when 
grown in hills. The expense of growing and culti¬ 
vating is less with the matted-row system, for the 
reason that there will be no labor in cutting the run¬ 
ners or hoeing between the hills in the rows. The 
cost of picking will be the same with both systems. 
With good, rich, moist land, and thorough cultivation, 
the fruit will run a little larger when grown in hills, 
but the net returns will be, at least, double, when 
grown by the matted-row system. t. j. dwyer. 
Orange County, N. Y. 
Hill System in South Jersey. 
My experience of 25 years leads me to adopt hill 
culture when best results are desired. This insures 
larger yields, finer colored fruit, which averages larger 
in size, and should, therefore, bring better prices. I 
have seen exceptional locations where the soil was a 
low, damp mucky formation, where matted rows 
seemed all that could be desired, producirg 10,000 
quarts per acre ; but on higher land and sandy loam, 
I would advise hill culture. Very few cultivators 
possess the moral courage to weed out the plants 
