86 



THE SUMMER TREATMENT OF GREEN-HOUSE PLANTS. 



As to my manner of cultivation, (allow- 

 ing the plants to cover the whole surface of 

 the bed) it has its objections as well as its 

 advantages. Hovey's Seedling will ripen 

 perfectly and retain their flavor when thus 

 massed. The Black Prince suffers some- 

 what in flavor, and in the rich dark coloring 

 of its fruit, but it ripens well. The Swain- 

 stone was almost lost in the crowd. The 

 Black Prince on the one side, and the Ho- 

 vey Seedling on the other — both more vig- 

 orous growers — fairly overrun the more 

 modest neighbors. The Swainstone, how- 

 ever, I think far the most delicious fruit fov 

 eating out of hand, and it would undoubt- 

 edly do better cultivated in hills, and out of 

 the reach of other vines. 



But then massing has some invaluable 

 advantages. After the first crop in the 

 spring, the weeds will give no trouble. The 

 fruit stalks stand nearly upright, keeping 

 {he fruit from the earth, yielding it perfect- 

 ly clean, without the labor of spreading 

 straw or grass on the ground to keep it so. 



I was often asked how the fruit could be 



gathered without injury to the vines, for 

 there would appear to be " no rest for the 

 sole of the foot." This, however, was not the 

 case. By carefully parting the vines with 

 the hands, at the first picking, there was no 

 difficulty in finding room for the feet, with- 

 out doing the least injury, and I always after 

 that follow in my first tracks. Parting the 

 vines in picking the fruit, with the aid of my 

 pole (already spoken of,) exposed the fruit 

 to the sun and brought it to maturity. 



Upon the whole, I feel richly rewarded 

 for all my painstaking in thoroughly prepa- 

 ring the soil. Although there are very 

 many within my acquaintance who com- 

 plain that they fail in raising strawberries, 

 yet the fault lies with themselves. A good 

 crop here is always the result of good cul- 

 tivation. Let them dig deeply and manure 

 heavily, and so surely as the sun shines and 

 the rain falls, they will be convinced of the 

 immense advantage of such previous pre- 

 paration, when they gather the superb crops 

 which are the result. F. 



JVewburgh, July, 1849. 



THE SUMMER TREATMENT OP GREEN-HOUSE PLANTS. 



BY B. LEUCHARS, 



In this country, the office of a gardener, if 

 he properly performs the duties thereof, is 

 tio sinecure. Some days we have the sun 

 of the tropics shining upon us with a burn- 

 ing brightness, parching and paralyzing 

 every green herb, and some nights we have 

 the cold chilly atmosphere of the poles, 

 bringing along with it the aqueous vapours 

 of these ice-bound regions, cooled down 

 almost to the freezing point, and depositing 

 them upon the weltered and seared forms of 

 dying vegetation. There is, however, a 

 comparatively trifling diminution of terres- 

 trial heat in proportion to that lost by the 



NEW-HAVEN, CT. 



lower stratum of air; and thus, the plants 

 upon the earth's surface, are placed much in 

 the same position as a man would be, with 

 his feet in an oven and his head in an ice- 

 house. If, perchance, a dull and cloudy 

 day should intervene, the organism of deli- 

 cate plants become relaxed, the tissue of 

 the leaves is softened, and thus they are 

 rendered more susceptible of the scorching 

 rays of the next day's sun. These peculi- 

 arities in the physical condiiion of this por- 

 tion of the world, render the cultivation of 

 many plants somewhat difficult, and it is 

 easy enough to perceive that these circum- 



