THE FARM AND GARDEN 



FiGUKE 1.— Matted How and Hill System. 



Sti^awbbi^i^ies. 



' ^' Small fruits to people in the country, are like 

 Heaven, objects of universal desire and very general 

 neglect.''— 'i^. P. Hoe. 



*' Doubtless God could have made a better fruit 

 than the strawberry, but doubtless God never did." 

 —Dr. Boteler. 



This issue, being our Annual Strawberry Num- 

 ber, contains tlie tollowing articles on tlie subject 

 of this luscious small-lruit :— .. „ , 



The Preparation of the Soil; soil; Botany of 

 the Strawberry; EttVcts of (.'ross-Fertilization; 

 Hill Culture; Fertilizers; Irrigation; Trans- 

 planting ; Picking and Marketing ; V aneties. 



SOILS. 



The strawberry is more uniformly successful in 

 all soils than any other fruit. It appears more 

 at home, provided manure and moisture are 

 present, than any plant we cultivate. Tlie straw- 

 berry will do very well in wet land, if it is culti- 

 vated in narrow beds with furrows deep enough 

 to hold the standing water. The crowns of the 

 l)l:int must be kept above standing water or the 

 liliuit will drown out. With narrow bed culture, 

 w<-t lands will produce fine berries. Even shift- 

 ing sands will, witn proper culture, yield rich 

 returns of excellent fruit. The best soil is one 

 moderately moist mot wet) and friable enough to 

 allow tlie berries to root easily, for no plant loves 

 a well cvrltivated and friable soil as much as the 

 strawberry. A noted strawberry grower says 

 a soil that will produce good timothy will pro- 

 duce good berries. So it undoubtedly will, and 

 so will lands too light in character to grow 

 timothy or other grasses. 



PREPARATION OF SOIL. 



Much labor may be saved in cultivation by 

 sc'lecting land that has been long in cultivation ; 

 land, where all seeds of red and white clover, 

 ^rcen and Itlue grass, and perennial grasses have 

 been eradi<-aled. These grasses we mention are 

 very tnmblesome to destroy. They will take 

 root after the fending of the berries is finished 

 grow a great height before the berries ripen, and 

 will seriously injure the crop. They cannot 

 be removed until after the picking, and 

 then they have grown to such a height, and are 

 matted so thoroughly, that their removal is very 

 <iifficult. For tiiis reason we mention the pre- 

 vious preparation of soil. The thorough eradica- 

 tion of these grasses is desirable. Care should 

 also be used not to apply any manure or mulch 

 that eontains foul seeds of clover or grasses. 

 Harn-vard manures should be composted with 

 poiasii salts before using, which will, if properly 

 applied, destroy all tlie seeds in the compost, and 

 toe useful as a fertilizer also. ' 



BOTANY OF THE STRAWBERRY. 



It may not be known to some of our readers 

 that all plants are bisexual, except a few plants 

 called Cryptogams. Most plants are perfect, or 

 that is, iilants that have both stamens and pis- 

 tils perfect in all the flow- 

 ers. The Wilson and 

 Sharpless a r e of this 

 class, and are hermaph- 

 rodite, or perfect-flower- 

 ing, while in the Man- 

 cliester. Crescent, and 

 others, the siamens are 

 abortive or wanting, and 

 such berries are called 

 pistillate ben-ries. T h e 

 pistils are the female 

 parts of the flower; thev 

 spring from the seed of the berry, one from ea<*h 

 . seed, are about a line in length, and are found 

 in the centre of the flower. Figure 12 gives a tlower 

 where there are only pistils present. Figure 8 

 shows the same flower cut in sections. Such 

 flowers as those of pistillate berries, like the 

 Manchester, Crescent, and others, will not bear 

 fruit unless astaminate plant, as the Wilson or 

 *Sharpless, is planted near to fertilize them. This 

 iis done by the stamens of the flowers which are 



Figure 2. 



Figure 3. 



shown in Figure 4. and in cross-section of Figure 



o, where the stamens are seen in an outward 



circle around the pistils in the centre of the 



flower. These stamens pro- 

 duce a kind of yellow dust 



called pollen, and when a bee, 



or other insect, in search of 



honey, crawls over the flower 



some of the pollen clings to 



the bee, and is lodged *m the 



pistils ol the flf>wer. The 



flower is then perfeeted. A 



portion of the pollen which 



still adheres to the bee, is 



carried to those plants which 



aiN- flerteient in staiiirns, and 



hence, also, in ]iollcn, when 



at once t lie same ferl ilization 



takes place as it did in the former' case. The 



reader will see, were it not for the bee and the 



stamens of the perfect blossoms of staminate ber- 

 ries, the pistillate berries 

 would be barren, and 

 would not produce under 

 any circumstance. Such 

 varieties oitt*n fail to pro- 

 duce fair berries for want 

 of a surtieient number of 

 perfect flowering varie- 

 ties near them. When 

 they are planted four 

 to one, the fertilization 

 will be complete, and an 

 abundant crop of perfect 

 berries will be produced. 

 The question will be 

 pistillate kinds at all," We 

 the pistillate berries are the 



most productive and valuable varieties when 



properly fertilized, and are among the most 



p roll table." 



Figure 4. 



asked, "why plant 



answer, '* many of 



THE EFFECTS OF CROSS-FERTILIZATION. 



The Farm A-NnffAUDEN was the first Agricul- 

 tural paper to give pnmiinence to the important 

 erteets of cross-fertilization of strawberries. In 

 January, 1S.S4, our gifted contributor, Mr. J. T. 

 Lovett, first brought the subject prominently 

 to the notice of the hor- 

 ticultural public. The 

 subject is now of much 

 interest to all fruitgrow- 

 ers. Mr. F u 1 1 e r, some 

 years ago, alluded to 

 the fact that there was 

 a \ariati<in of berries 

 whert- tlit-re was aeross- 

 lertili/.ation, but it re- 

 main. -d fur Mr. Lovett 

 to rull>- demonstrate the 

 inlUu-nec ol varit-tit-s on 

 each other when j. Ian trd FioureS. 



together, as he did lully 'first in The Farm and 

 U.\RL)EX of last year. Many deny there is any 

 influence at all exerted by pollenlzation, and it 

 was a fertile subject of discussion at the recent 

 meeting of the Mississippi VaUev Horticultural 

 Society, at New;Orleans. Wm. Parry, of Parry, 



N. J., claims he has observed the effects of cross- 

 fertilization fully marked in pears, and many 

 others claim the same of other fruits. There are 

 also very many who deny any such efl'ects, and 

 attribute all the changes noticed to difference in 

 cultivation. We find, by intercourse with many 

 practical strawberry growers, and from reports of 

 the various horticultural societies we receive. 

 that the tact appears to bo well established that 

 changes (lo occur by eross-ft rtilization, that fully 

 atlccl tlie size tlavor and general character of the 

 fruit. The reader will read elsewhere in this 

 paper, the diflerence in the sexual organs of the 

 strawl:>erry, and tliat while some are perfect 

 flowering, like the Wilson, Hovey, and others, 

 yet. there is a large class which need, like the 

 Trescent, Manchester, and many more, to be 

 planted near the others, or they will fail to 

 [.roduce perfect berries, or entirely fail to 

 liniduce at all. The Wilson will, as fertilizer, 

 with pistillate varieties, make a firm berry and 

 will carry well. Let the Sliarpless be used, and a 

 larger berry will bi- ])rodueed l)y the cross, but at 

 the exi)enseorthe tirniness. A well-known grower 

 of strawberries, sin i wed us some niws < if the Man- 

 chester in which every fourth plant was a Sharp- 

 less, aTid iiil<irnied us that the Manchester was so 

 ehaiiu^ed by the Shjirplcss in its size. shap4' and 

 color, iliut liuy were all picked and s<ild togetlier 

 forShaniless, and were to all appearance Sharp- 

 less, lie liad all the bearing qualities of the 

 Manchester <-onibined with size, color and shape 

 of the siuirpless. Director Lazenby, of Ohio Ex- 

 perimental station, in experiments with cross- 

 fertilization, has found in every instance a 

 marked resemblance in shape, size, color and 

 general ajipearanee t<» the truit of the male parent. 

 SostrouLTly was this marked, that he states that 

 the cross-bred berries liore no resemblance to the 

 female parent. Crescents were tertilized with 

 four ditt'erent varieties — <'um)iei!and, James 

 \'ick, Charles Downing and Sharidess. Fertil- 

 ized b.v the Cumberland, the berries were light 

 in color and soft; with the Vicks, small but firm; 

 with the Downing, they were similar to the 

 Downing, with thi- <-liaraeteristic gloss of that 

 berry; with the Sbari>less, they were large like 

 the Sharpless, and irregular. He also experimen- 

 ted with the Manchester, with the same results 

 as with the Crescent. 



T. T. Lyon, of Van Buren, Michigan, In a letter 

 to the Jiin'al JVeio Yorkvr, disclaims lielief in any 

 marked degree of effiect in pollen izat ion, and says 

 that the Crescent remains, wit li iiini, the same 

 soft, insipid berr.v, whether fertilized by the Wil- 

 son, Eidwell, Sharpless or Miner, and says the 

 same of other varieties n*^ has ti'sied in cross- 

 fertilization. He claims soil aiiC cu'livjition will 

 a<ci.unt l>»r the changes supposed to be produced 

 by cross-fertilization. There is a possibilit.v that 

 Mr. Lyon may be misled, from the fact, as ob- 

 served by Mr. J. B. Rogers, of Millbmm, N. J., 

 that some of the pistillate berries, in rich soils, 

 become fertile and self-fertilizing, and s\ieh ma.v 

 be the the case with Mr. Lyon, and his lierries 

 may not be cross-bred at all. So far. it appears to 

 us, tlie proof that cross-fertilization does afl'ect 

 strawberries, as asserted, seems to rest on a good 

 foundation, and will be advisable for our readers 

 to make a note of it. 



FERTILIZERS. 



The strawberry wants two things in abundance, 

 miiiinrr wmX nafrr. The ground cannot be made 

 too rich and productive. Potash and phosphate, 

 es]H-ciaIl.\M>otash, are specific manures for straw- 

 bi-rries. They never seem to know when they 

 get enough of them. Barn-yard and stable ma- 

 nures contain them all, and can safel.y be used in 

 any quantity. The more you use of them the 

 iriore t lie profit. The last load in all cases paying 

 better than tlie preceding one. Where there is a 

 scarcity of stable and barn-yard manures, ashes 

 and the various i>otash salts are next in value 

 when applied Avith txmc-dust. The high-grade 

 sulphate— Hfi per <-ent.— we like best, then the mu- 

 riate, antl the i-onunon form of kainit. 



The projicr time for application is, when. used 

 largely, belore the plants are set. One ton per 

 acre of ])otash salts and one of bone-du^t will be 

 found useful. The bone-dust can be soww broad- 

 cast, after setting the berries, but before is prefer- 

 able. The use of potash ferlilizers, alter setting, 

 must be in small (luaiitities— say two or three 

 hundred pounds per acre, and alter each rain 

 again applied. By this manner of applying the 

 potash salts all danger of burning the plants by 



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