lis 



THE CHILI PTRAWDERrV 



cring, so ilmt they may blossom at the 

 same time with the Chili. 



Duchesne's second method consists in 

 digging up old strawberry stocks, with balls 

 of earth previous to their blossoming, plant- 

 ing them among the Chili, watering them 

 very sparingly, and thus retarding their 

 progress. 



The third mode may be the neatest, but 

 is not the speediest. To apply it one must 

 always have a provision of the strawberries 

 intended to be used to impregnate the 

 Chili, in some northerly situation, where, of 

 course, they will bloom late, from what 

 Duchesne terms vialarie. These supply 

 the strawberries for fertilizing the other, 

 and are thus applied. Towards evening he 

 cut off the half-closed or rather half-opened 

 umbels, with foot-stalks from one to three 

 inches long, placed them in small phials 

 filled with water, and then brought them 

 to the beds of expanded Chilians, and in 

 order that each set might be brought into 

 close contact, he buried the phials into 

 earth close to the Chili plant. The next 

 day the blossoms opened, and the impreg- 

 nation was successfully completed. After 

 the petals are shed, the cup or calyx closes 

 and the young fruit bend downwards to the 

 earth, until, increasing in size, they can 

 erect themselves. 



Poiteau says that in Paris the Chili 

 never attains the same size it does at Brest, 

 and never assumes the bizarre shapes in the 

 fruits of that vicinity. We have found the 

 quality of both to be similar. 



The Chili requires much care to raise 

 them in perfection, especially by removing 

 the runners and thinning the leaves ; with- 

 out these operations they Avould soon be 

 smothered and dwindle for want of suffi- 

 cient nourishment. They also demand 

 more frequent removing of the beds, that 

 is, of transplantation, than the other kinds, 



and they can seldom be kept in one spot 

 longer than three years. They have never 

 been raised from seed in Europe, and this 

 is the surest evidence of the barrenness of 

 the stamen; wherever the fruit bears good 

 seed, they have been impregnated by other 

 strawberries. 



Noisette is, in all essentials, in regard 

 to their culture, of Duchesne's opinion. 

 He also considers a loose, sandy heath soil 

 the most proper, but still admits that in 

 one case he found the Chilian, thriving in 

 a garden in Paris, where the soil had not 

 been mixed or prepared according to the 

 direction. The method which I employ in 

 the culture of these strawberries, differs, in 

 many respects, from that of Poiteau. I 

 must confess, however, that I have had no 

 great success n bringiing them to fruit, as 

 I have never practised artificial impregna- 

 tion, but have generally left it to chance, 

 or to the agency of other sorts usually 

 growing near by. But as I arranged the 

 order of my beds in my strawberry planta- 

 tion, according to Barnet's classification, in 

 whose sj^stem the Pine-apple and Chili are 

 next each other, the latter have still borne 

 some fruit, although in no great quantity. 

 They have not attained the size natural to 

 them, under proper cultivation and circum- 

 stances, but have been always well tasted. 

 The soil of my beds has not been specially 

 prepared for them, but they are planted 

 along with the other kinds in ground 

 trenched to the depth of one foot and a 

 half, richly manured, and mixed with sand. 

 I transplant them, like the others, every 

 three years, and only by runners, separat- 

 ing as soon as they have rooted, (probably 

 in July,) from the mother plant, and transfer 

 them to the beds prepared, setting them 

 out at the distance of two feet every way. 

 During summer they are abundantly ma- 

 tured. Kunners not required for making 



