It is also better, if the grower has no suitable plants of his own, to get them near at home, from reliable growers, so they can be freshly dug and not withered or dried.

In planting the plants it is necessary to get the roots in their natural position as near as possible, with the crown at about the level of the surface, and the soil firmly pressed around them. The dirt should Lever be soggy, neither should it be dry, but just contain enough moisture to make it crumbly or pliable.

After the plants are started, the soil should be kept perfectly clean from weeds, and the new runners trained into the proper shape to form a new bed for the crop in the coming season.

As to the kind of berries, they should be of the best, and the variety should be that which has the best flavor, the finest appearance, and the largest size; and that which will best please the palate of the local consumer wherever they are raised. For fruit is like vegetables. You must cultivate the taste of your customer and be in the fashion; for fashion nowadays controls the world, not only in dress and society, but also in the vegetable creation. And if we are not in the fashion, we are not in it.

Different varieties of berries are suited to different varieties of soil, and I therefore will not dwell further upon this subject, but as to what variety is best suited to one's particular trade, I will leave to the judgment of the producer or grower himself.

Strawberry plants are quite hardy, but at the same time they are liable to destruction, to a considerable extent, by being raised from the ground during the different freezes and thaws of winter. They, therefore, should be given a winter coat or mulching, not for the purpose of excluding the cold alone, but also to prevent the frequent thaws which are most always recurring during this time, and especially toward spring. For it is not the freezing which injures the plants, but as stated before, the changes of temperature which causes the damage to the fruit buds and roots and, if not properly protected, it will be unavoidable.

There is nothing better for this purpose than salt or marsh hay, because it is perfectly clean of weeds and has a natural tendency to work itself down close to the ground and between the plants. Also because of its less liability to decay; it can be left on the plants during the summer, keeping nice and moist, while at the same time keeping the fruit perfectly clean.

This hay is to be obtained quite cheaply, costing from six to nine dollars per ton in bales at any large hay or feed store.

Mulching is absolutely necessary on ground where the soil has the tendency of upheaval by the action of the frost.

In conclusion will say that no grower can be successful unless he produces the best varieties which apparently are in the most demand at his particular place. Always give good measure, uniform ber

ries and let your customers know that your berries are just as they are represented, both as to quality and kind. When you have the confidence of your customers, you have gained an advantage over your competitor which cannot be easily taken from you.

TOBACCO GROWING IN PENNSYLVANIA IN 1897.

By F. R. DIFFENDERFFER, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

No reports on the tobacco crop in this State having appeared in the annual volume of the Department of Agriculture for a number of years, and as this industry has steadily held its own during the past twenty seasons along with other staple crops of the Commonwealth, it has been deemed expedient to present a view of the progress and present condition of tobacco farming as it exists among us at the present time.

As a general thing it may be said, that, save in one or two particulars, no radical changes have taken place in the methods of planting, cultivating, harvesting and curing the crop. But while the old time lines and methods still prevail to a large extent, a number of minor changes have been brought about, some the result of necessity, and others such as the practical experience of the tobacco growers themselves have shown to be necessary and expedient. I shall allude to such of these as seem deserving of mention, and also endeavor to present as briefly and clearly as possible, such new features as seem to commend themselves to farmers who are anxious to keep abreast of the most advanced ideas of their calling.

EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO.

When the last extended report on the culture of tobacco in this State was written eighteen years ago, the crop had reached high water mark, so far as quantity was concerned, and it was thought at that time that the limit had been reached. The estimate for the season of 1879 was 60,000 cases, with a possibility that it might go even beyond those figures. Since then the product of the State has fluctuated from causes that will be stated later on, but during several seasons it reached the great total of 80,000 cases. The same prejudices that then prevailed among some persons to growing tobacco on moral grounds, have not died out, but the value of the crop as a money producer, its profitableness, its generally ready sale, the small outlay of ready money required to grow it and the large returns swept away the ob

jections of many and the area has been gradually extending until the product reached the dimensions already stated.

OUR SUPREMACY CHALLENGED.

When Pennsylvania first ran her crop up to 80,000 cases, one-half of which, and sometimes more, was cultivated by the single county of Lancaster, she stood far above any of the other cigar leaf tobacco growing states. No other even approached her in this particular. But a rival has come upon the field. While the New England states have not exceeded their product of fifteen or twenty years ago, and while the same may be said of New York, a most formidable rival has, like young Lochinvar, came out of the West, and to-day the State of Wisconsin with her product of from 60,000 to 100,000 cases has challenged our supremacy, not only in the matter of quantity, but also in a measure in the quality of her product. It is true, her tobaccos do not rate as high in the markets as our own, but they form excellent binders for cigars, and their cheapness besides, makes them a most serious rival of Pennsylvania grown goods.

But it is not in Wisconsin alone that our State has encountered dangerous rivalry. Fashion has stepped in and declared that the rich brown shade which marks the best Pennsylvania leaf, is not in accordance with the highest taste, and proclaimed that the cinnaman colored article grown in the valley of the Connecticut is the correct thing, and the result has been that our growers can no longer command the prices they formerly did, but have been compelled to occupy a second place, with a loss of prestige and a reduction in the market value of their product.

THREE SUCCESSIVE BAD SEASONS.

Still another and a more serious drawback has come to our growers. For three successive seasons the weather conditions were unfavorable. It is well known, that for its best and highest development, the tobacco plant requires a reasonable amount of moisture all through the growing season, especially during the twenty or thirty days prior to harvesting. Unless it gets this, the plant comes to a standstill, and the leaves grow thick and leathery. That was the case in 1894, 1895 and 1896. The crops in these years were undesirable, and not such as manufacturers wanted. The result was that the packers lost much money on some of them and were unwilling or unable to pay remunerative prices. All this was further accentuated by the improper treatment of the tobacco in the stripping rooms by many growers, who used water too freely to increase the weight of the crop. The result was that many crops developed black rot after they were cased and had undergone their sweat, entailing heavy losses on the holders. White vein also came along and added to the trouble. The result was that Pennsylvania tobacco growers got a "black eye," in the language of the