This section is from "The Horticulturist, And Journal Of Rural Art And Rural Taste", by P. Barry, A. J. Downing, J. Jay Smith, Peter B. Mead, F. W. Woodward, Henry T. Williams. Also available from Amazon: Horticulturist and Journal of Rural Art and Rural Taste.
A member answered to-morrow morning at 7 o'clock, which Mr. Burgess endorsed.
Mr. Burgess. - I used to kill toads in my strawberry patch. One day I killed one, and it contained 2 caterpillars, 4 snails, 20 wire-worms, and other insects.
Mr. Fuller. - 1 consider every toad in my garden worth five dollars. They can be tamed. My toads follow me in my garden, they arc so tame.
Mr. Burgess. - Would like to have sparrows; they are good for Dahlias. They catch the larvae about the flowers. Go in for forcing a law to protect these beneficial animals. Prune roots ten feet from body of tree; every year prune them and feed them; put in good rotten manure. Peat is good for a winter top dressing.
Mr. Brophy, - No matter what age the tree is, it needs root-pruning. Why? because it multiplies itself; we find new roots that are necessary to it.
Mr. Fuller. - Root pruning increases the number of roots. The roots are only annuals; they die off. No tree can be lifted out of the ground without destroying the roots. All stone fruits will canker if broken. The strawberry is not generally pruned. I cut back half; they can be set out more easily; they feed better. Strictly, they are not perennials; they are biennials. Most all foreign strawberries produce stools or crowns. Foreigners lift themselves out, and are killed in winter. Strawberries are pistillate and staminate; there is no such thing as a staminate, though we have got a way of calling them so.
Mr. Burgess - The most essential thing is to prune trees with a sharp knife. Do not approve of spades or shears.
Mr. Fuller. - A cultivator is a good thing to use in an orchard.
 
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