The Mena star., 1898-07-20
THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
Interesting Meeting Held Last Satur-
 day in Janssen Park.

Last Saturday was the day set for a meeting of the Horticul tural Society at Janssen park, and very interesting meeting was had. Every one who is interested in fruit growing and the de- velopment of this industry, peculiar ly adapted to Western and Northwest ern Arkansas, should attend and lend encouragement to these meetings.
 Several of the mem bers to whom topics had been assigned, not being present, the regular programme was dispensed with. The meeting was called to order by President A. W. St John and discussion of straw berry growing was opened by J. B. Hickman, of Janssen:
 MY STRAWBERRY PATCH"
 "Io commence, 1 will say that my neigh bors about Jansen consider me d strawberry crank, so you may draw your own conclusions when 1 am through with the subject assigned me. Last spring, before l went into the strawberry business, l visited the straw berry fields about Var Buren and Sallisaw, to gather what information l could on the subject. l believe our rough lands would become valuable by planting them to fruit, especially strawberries. I reasoned that if we could get into market as early as the berries grown just north of us, we had good thing; if we could get in before them we had big thing. Our eleva- ton gives us better berry, frmer, better color and highly favored.
 We organized horticultural soci- ety at our place, and set out sixty-five acres in strawberries last spring 1 experimented with both old and new land. The old land was an old field that had been in cultivation for more than twenty-five years l plowed the ground with a 14-jnch stirring blow, five inches deep, thoroughly narrowed rows four feet apart and set the plants two feet in the drill. My neignbors said they wouldn't give me twenty five cents for my two acres, on that old, worn out ground. The plants have made fine growth, runners five feet in length, with five or six plants to the runner. I set apple trees in the same plat of ground and they have made an average growth of three feet.
 ~ have cultivated my berry patch five times and went over with the hoe the same number. 1 set an example for the other growers by keeping my patch clear of weeds. picked off all the blooms so the plants would bear full crop next season. cultivated out the middles, leaving the matted row about twenty inches wide. Cultivated after each rain, just as soon as the soil was dry enough, which prevents it from baking.
 "The society put out sixty-hve acres. and at least forty acres will yield full crop next season. The society expects to set out 200 to 250 acres in wber- ries this fall and next spring. so that we will be able to ship in carload lots from our town. So far we have plant ed nothing but the Early Mitchell but will put out the Candy for shipments south, after the berries in the south are gone.
 On the question of muching. I don't believe it will be needed for winter protection. but as a protection to hold the berries off the sand. We can get cotton seed bulls from the oil mill at Shreveport at B per ton on board cars. Our society may order carload"
 DISCUSSIONS
 R E Evans: How fate can 1 set out strawberry plants?
 | J. E. Hickman: | have been trans planting all the season and they have done we'll I do not advise late planting.
 A. w St. John: Prepare your ground now and if rains set in, plant out this fall and you will get a half crop next year and full crop the following sea- son. Don't plant later than April, ex- cept where you set in a bud. The best mulching 1 ever used was straw or coarse litter from the stable. Never had any experience with cotton seed hulls Oats sown when you cultivate the last time in the fall makes a fine