Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1896-02-25
The FARMERS INSTITUTE.
AN ADDRESS ON FRUIT GARDEN
ING BY BAILEY G. STREET.
Published by Request of the Wlnneshiek
County Farmers Institute, held at Hes
per, Iowa, February 7th and Sth, 1890.

| / take it for granted that the farmers
private garden and not market gard
ening is intended. In the first place
the word gardening includes different
branches such as vegetables, fruits and
| flowers, and that each should have q
place on every farm, whether large or
| small. / shall confine my few remarks
to the fruit garden. In passing through
the country, I notice that very few
| farmers have any small fruit at all, and
| do not understand why they thus
deprive themselves of such luxury
| when it is so easy to be obtained.
Perhaps it is through neglecting to
attend to it at the right time, or that
| it will take too much time and trouble,
or that there is mystery about the
growing of them that they don't under
stand. There is no mystery at all
about it and the growing of berries is as
| simple as the growing of corn, and
there is nothing that will produce the
same amount of money value on a
small piece of land, for the labor expen-
| ded if attended to at the right time.
A good many persons say to me, If |
could raise nice grapes like you do /
| would set out vines right away, but
somehow l do not have any luck
raising grapes. And probably these
same persons had some time previously
bought few grape vines of an agent,
paying two or three prices for them,
setting them out in some out of the
way corner, letting them stand out all
winter sticking up through snow drifts,
and of course with such treatment little
or no fruit; and then call it luck.
| What misnomer. Some men will say
| l would rather buy my berries than
| take the time and trouble to raise them
| but in such cases generally the family
is not supplied with half as many
berries as they could use and what they
do get are not as good as when picked
| fresh from the vines and bushes.
remember when l was boy, there
was a piece in ore of the readers enti-
tied: "There is no Excellence Without
| Great Labor which is true in all de-
| partments of life. If we would have
any thing that is valuable we must
work for it. If we expect something
| for nothing, get a few plants of a neigh
Dor, set them out and let them take
care of themselves and expect to get a
| lot of nice berries from them, we shall
be disappointed.
Notice the provisions of kind Prov
idence in furnishing us with success
ion of fruits, during the entire season,
one kind is hardly gone before another
is ripening; from the currant early in
the season, to the grape late in the fall.
Let the farmer lake piece of land
by the side of his vegetable garden
| where the pigs and chickens cannot
get to it, say ten rods long and three
| or a little more wide. At one side put
out three rows of strawberry plants
three and one half feet apart, in rows
running the long way; Then three
rows of black raspberrles six feet apart
and two feet nine inches apart in the
rows, and three rows of red raspberries
and one row of currants and goose
berries five feet apart. This will need
about 800 strawberry plants and $50
each of black and red raspberry plants
and 80 currant and gOOseberry plants.
Keep these well cultivated and hOed
once week during the season up to
| the first of August, destroying all weeds
as soon as they make their appearance.
Of the strawberries, Crescent and
Bederwood are good; raspberries, black,
Palmer, and Older; red Turner and
Cuthbert, currants, Cherry and Victor
ia, and white grape and gOOseberries,
| Downing and Haughten Seeding are
all good. Here we have less than one
fifth of an acre of land and the first
year after setting out we ought to get
200 boxes of strawberries and a few
raspberries, and the next year 4OO
boxes of berries. What luxury to the
| family to have all the nice ripe berries
| they can use through the year! Any
fruit grower will tell you that this is
| no fancy picture, twice this amount is
often raised by the acre. You will have
| to watch the current and gOoseberry
bushes and, as soon as the currant
worms make their appearance sprinkle
| the bushes with solution OF water
and white hellebOre, in the proportion
of tablespoon full of hellebOre to a
gallon of water, and apply as often as
the worms make their appearance.
| And last but not least in Importance,
comes the grape. l Iwould put out moth
| ing that ripens later than the Concord
and earlier is better. The first fall after
setting out trim back to two buds,
and the next fall to three buds, cutting
out each fall the previous years growth; !;
This is what is called the renewal
system. There are various other ways
of trimming. The grapes grow on
shoots starting early in the spring from
vines of the previous years growth.
After trimming in the fall curl them in
a small place and cover with dirt, and
the next spring after danger of frost is
over, take them up and tie to support.
OF varieties Early Ohio, Moore's early,
Worden and Concord for black; Brigh-
ton and Delaware for red And Lady
and Pocklington for white. Named in
the order of their ripening.
have said nothing about the newer
kinds of fruits, many of which have
great merit. But have named only
tried kinds, that have proved success
over large extent of country, and
that will not disappoint any one that
| will give them good treatment.
And, although not properly belong
ing to the fruit garden yet closely
connected with the subject, want to
refer briefly to the larger fruits. There
is of the cherries, the Osthem and
several other kinds that are perfectly