The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1879-10-30
FARM TOPICS.
CHOICE OF SOIL AND LOCATION FOR
STRAWBERRIES.

STRAWBERRIES.
Apropos of the strawberry planting
season. Mr.. E. P. Roe of Cornwall, N
| Y, whose success with small fruit Is
well known, is contributing to Scri6ner
several papers of practical suggestions
regarding strawberry culture. From
the first of these papers in the Novem-
Der number we select these paragraphs:
The choice that Tobias Hobson i'm
posed on his patrons when he COM
pelled them to take " the horse nearest
the stable door, or none at all, is one
that often must be made in selecting
strawberry ground. We must use such
as we have or raise no berries. 1t has
been said that "with no other fruit do
soil and locality make so great differ
ence; ~ and | am inclined to think that
! while this is truer of the raspberry, it is
also thoroughly established that location
and native qualities of soil are among
the first and chief considerations in
working out the problem of success with
strawberries.
1t is generally admitted fact that the
very best soil and the one adapted to the
largest number of varieties is deep
sandy loan, moist, but not wet in its
natural state. All the varieties with
which am acquainted will do well on
such land if it is properly deepened and
enriched. Shall the fact that we have
no such soil and can not obtain it dis
courage us? Not at all. There
are choice varieties of strawber-
ries that will grow in the ex-
! tremes of sand or clay. More effort
will be required, but skill and informa-
ton can still secure success; and advan-
/ tages of location, climate, and nearneSS
to good markets may more than cOun-
! terbalance natural deficiencies in the
land. Therefore, if one finds himself in
an unfavorable climate, and shut up to
the choice of land the reverse of a deep,
moist, sandy loan, let him pit his brain
and muscle against all obstacles.
Let it be well understood that straw
berries can not be made to do well on
ground exhausted by the roots and COW
cred by the shade of trees. On many
| farms, and even in some gardens, there
are several varieties of soil and lOca-
ton, and by placing early kinds on
warm, sunny slopes, and giving late va
rieties moist, heavy land and cool, north
ern exposures, the season of this fruit
can be greatly prolonged. The advan-
tage of this long-continued supply for
the family is obvious, but it is often even
more important to those whose income
is dependent on this industry. 1t quite
often occurs that the market is ''glut-
ted - with berries for a brief time in the
height of the season. If ones crop ma
lures in the main at such time, the one
chance of the year passes, leaving but
small margin of profit, whereas, if the
grower prOlongs his season by a careful
selection of soils as well as of varieties,
he may sell large portion of his fruit
when it is scarce and high.
Climate, also, is a very important con-
sideration. In the far north, sheltered
be chosen for the main crop, but in our
latitude and southwark, it should always
be our aim to avoid that hardness and
dryness of soil that cut short the crops
and hopes of so many cultivatorS.
1t is also of vital Importance that the
fruit farm should be near good shipping
facilities, and that there be sufficient
population in the immediate vicinity to
furnish pickers in abundance. 1t will be
far better to pay much higher price
for land-even inferior land-near vii
lage and railroad depot than to at
tempt to grow these perishable fruits in
remoter regions. A water communica-
ton with the market is, of course, pref
cradle to any other.
IMPROVED STOCK.
But few of our stockmen are aware of
the actual extent of the change pro-
duced in our domestic animals within
the last half century. A single fact in
relation to hogs may serve to illustrate
this matter. Fifty years ago the farmer
thought he was doing well if he brought
his hogs to a net weight of 200 pounds
by keeping them through two winters.
About the year 1920 an improved breed
of hogs, known as English swine,''
was INTRODUCED into this country from
Cheshire, England. They were distin-
guished by ears like an elephants, long
sides and large bones. These often
reached 500 pounds in the prescribed
life of porker. About ten years later,
the short-legged China pig made his
appearance and professed to be fit for
the market with only one winters feed
ing. This was great improvement In
the cost of pork; but there was an in
surmountable objection to the China
man among swineherds-he could not
travel to the market. This objection,
however, was soon removed by a
cross between these two imported
breeds without sacrificing the early
maturing quality of the China pig.
Continuing the improvement in the
same line we have reduced the period
of twenty months as the marketable age
of a pig, to nine or ten months, and
have advanced the standard weight to
three hundred pounds. Indeed, the
Poland Chinas of to-day scarcely bear
any resemblance to the animal we used
to hunt with dog and gun in the wild
woods of Indiana.
1t is true that it requires more food to
keep pig one year, in which time he
will gain three hundred pounds, than it
did to keep his predecessor the first
year of his pig life, for you can not
make two hundred pounds of pork out
of nothing; but it takes less food to
make the same weight of pork in one
year than in three. The point of early
maturity is the important gain in our
improved stock of every class. In
horses it is not so well marked, but in
cattle and poultry it is feature nearly
as prominent as in hog raising. The
question now is-when will we reach
the limits of the possible in this direc-
ton ?-I9CltanG Farmer.
Swearing Chinese Witness.