346 WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
through the garden, thus giving the wind, from every conceiva¬ 
ble direction, access to blossoms and fruit. Plants set in a 
square plat protect one another from the wind and in a measure 
from the sun. I find that those receiving the morning and eve¬ 
ning sun, and shaded from the full noon-day heat, are much 
larger than otherwise. The heat drawn by the black prairie 
soils is not beneficial, and to avoid this and obtain the best 
fruit, they must be well mulched. Two or three inches deep 
of coarse stable manure, spread evenly over the surface, is not 
too much, applied immediately after the ground is spaded over 
in the spring ; this, in turn, will be subsequently decomposed 
and may be forked in the coming spring. 
The fruit is borne upon wood of the previous year’s growth, 
and I find that by cutting out at least one-half of the old 
wood each fall, it adds much to the vigor of the plants and 
size of the fruit, as well as prevents the thick matting of the 
bush. 
The best age of bushes selected for planting from the nurse¬ 
ry, is as a rule, three year’s growth from the cutting. With 
plants of this age, the whole root may be obtained, which is not 
the case with those of a bearing size; these will have to be 
thinned out, and cut back to encourage a new and vigorous 
growth, as the fruit will be very small and inferior, until pro¬ 
duced upon such. 
Varieties. —The best are the Cherry Currant, the Dutch 
Red, Dutch White, Black Naples, Victoria, and White 
Grape. 
THE STRAWBERRY. 
The Strawberry has not yet received the attention in the 
North-west which its merits demand. The earliest of the sum¬ 
mer fruits, and one of the most wholesome, it should receive in¬ 
creased attention until found in every farmer’s garden.— 
Doubtless injudicious selections of varieties, bad manage¬ 
ment in protecting the plants, or no protection at all, on the 
part of a few careless experimenters, have resulted in failures 
