CULTURE OF THE STRAWBERRY. 201 



many runners, and the foliage is so dense as to seriously injure 

 the crop. 



If grown thinly they need to be mulched to keep the fruit 

 clean. Chopped hay, straw or pine leaves are excellent for this 

 purpose. The Belmont growers in years past have raised this 

 fruit in great perfection in beds, and after securing one crop 

 ploughed the plant under. This will do very well if the ground 

 be weedy, but if not, the leaves should be mown off soon 

 after the crop has matured, and the plants will come up with 

 new life and vigor and give a large yield of fruit the next year. 

 From a limited experience we are very much pleased with this 

 mode of treatment. We hope to continue to hear favorable 

 reports from our friend Moore of Concord, who has adopted a 

 somewhat peculiar treatment of the strawberry, but which, 

 among other peculiarities, embraces the mowing off of the plants. 

 If we were to judge of his system by the fine specimens of fruit 

 shown at the rooms of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society 

 the past season, we should need no word of explanation or 

 argument to prove its entire success. 



Fruit should be sent to market in all cases with the hulls on, 

 and if possible in baskets that furnish ventilation. He who 

 grows for profit will select such varieties, without regard to 

 quality for the table, as will give the largest number of quarts of 

 fruit, — the Wilson, for instance. Size is an important quality in 

 a strawberry, for everything else being equal the large fruit will 

 always command a better price than the small. The fruit for 

 market should not be left on until fully ripe, as it becomes too 

 soft for transportation. For home use a very different selection 

 of varieties should be made, and the fruit should be allowed to 

 ripen well before picking. Weeds must be kept down, and it is 

 almost useless to attempt to grow this crop unless clean culture 

 is insisted upon. The plants should be covered on the approach 

 of winter. Generally coarse horse manure is used for this pur- 

 pose, but hay and even branches of evergreens answer a good 

 purpose. 



We would strongly encourage the more extensive cultivation 



of this most excellent fruit, believing that the demand will be 



even greater than the supply. The strawberry has fewer insect 



enemies than most other fruits, is as sure to give a crop as any, 



26 



