By this system, it will be seen that the plants occupy the ground but about ten months, and little or no cultivation is given. It is practically the same method as that employed around Charleston, S. C., and, I am inclined to think, could often be practiced at the North with great profit. In contrast, Mr. J. K. Sharpless said, on the same occasion, "We grow in the hill system, and expect the plants to last four or five years;" adding, "My experience teaches me that strawberries should not be cultivated deeply until their season of rest is over, say the last of August." I think this view sound.
Mr. E. B. Underhill, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., said that he "valued the Golden Defiance for late fruit. The Glendale is more vigorous. I think highly of the Champion and Kentucky. The Duncan is our best early of those well tested. As the mid-market in this section will probably be glutted with Crescents, I shall take great pains with the Cumberland Triumph, which, picked in pints (on account of its softness), will yield almost as well, and bring more dollars than any sort I have tested yet."
From Mr. Frank S. Alling I learn that all the small fruits succeed finely on the shores of Puget Sound, Washington Territory.
I will close this chapter of experiences with a very interesting letter from the Rev. Mr. A. A. Von Iffland, of Quebec, who gives an admirable statement of the conditions of success in the latitude of Northern Canada. It will be seen that his light, warm soil makes a difference of several degrees of latitude in his favor.
"My soil is of a light gravelly nature, with a subsoil of coarse sand. It requires annual applications of large quantities of manure to bring about the best results, but then yields generous returns. It is warm and quick, and so porous that it can be worked almost immediately after the heaviest showers. Plants form roots in the soil with marvellous rapidity. All kinds of vegetables can be successfully cultivated. Potatoes, tomatoes, squash, corn, carrots, parsnips, melons, cucumbers, beans, and peas are grown to perfection. Of course, it is liable to suffer severely in a drought—an evil which I find is best obviated by plenty of barnyard manure and cultivation. The climate is doubtless severe, and the winters long, but the abundance of snow affords the best kind of protection and is of the greatest possible advantage in the culture of small fruits. Winter sets in with us sometimes as early as the first of November, sometimes not till the middle of December, and the snow has not disappeared from the vicinity of the fences till the last week in April. The average depth of snow is 4 1/2 half feet, and we have cold spells of three or four days at a time, when the glass varies between 20 and 30 degrees below zero.
"STRAWBERRIES
"I think that all the varieties which are cultivated in the United States can be cultivated here under the same conditions of soil. I grow successfully the Colonel Cheney, Triomphe de Gand, Wilson, Charles Downing, Nicanor, Green Prolific, Monarch of the West, Seth Boyden, but have discarded Jucunda and Kentucky. I have the greatest success with the Cheney, Charles Downing, Wilson, and Triomphe, in the order written. I plant both in fall and spring, but prefer fall setting when it can be done early and you have good plants.
"I used to strike plants in three-inch pots, but have abandoned that plan, and instead, lay the runners as early as I can get them (from 1st to 20th July), and when well rooted, set them out, with a ball of earth, from 15th to 20th August. If the season is at all moist, so that the young plants make good progress before the frosts set in (about middle of October), I get a good crop (half a full crop) the following summer. From plants set in the spring, I take no fruit. With this exception, fall and spring settings are treated alike. As the cultivation is all done by hand, I have found that planting in beds of three rows each combines the greatest advantages. The rows are 15 inches apart, and the plants 18 inches apart in the row—in the quincunx form; each bed is separated from the rest by a path 80 inches wide. I need not say that the soil has been previously well enriched—with compost, generally, and well-decomposed manure. In fact, as I usually plant on soil from which a crop of potatoes has been removed, the ground has received two applications the year the plants are set. As the Colonel Cheney is my favorite, in order to fertilize it, I plant alternate beds of some good staminate variety, Charles Downing, Triomphe, or Wilson. The cultivation of the young plants the first season consists in cutting off any runners that may form, and keeping them clear of weeds. When well established, the beds are top-dressed with an inch or two of old manure; this feeds the plants, keeps the soil about the roots moist, and acts as a mulch when the fruit sets, and yields the following summer. The following spring and summer, nothing is done to these beds till after fruiting, except to hoe out the weeds. After fruiting, a thorough weeding is effected, and the runners are cut every three weeks; and before the frosts set in, the beds are given a top-dressing of old manure. After the second crop of fruit is taken off, they are weeded, and the runners are allowed to strike. The third spring, wood-ashes are applied; and after fruiting the plants are turned under. No winter protection is given to the plants, unless you except the top-dressing of manures; but this is sometimes not applied till spring, and I observe no appreciable difference between the plants with and those without it. What I do observe is that an early winter, and plenty of snow, kills fewer plants than a winter in which the snowfalls have been delayed till after frosts and rains.
"Strawberries begin to ripen with us about the 28th of June, and raspberries about the 15th of July. With the above treatment, I have grown Wilsons and Cheneys at the rate of 11,000 quarts, or 344 bushels, to the acre.