THE CINCINNATI STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 



451 



ripening some days after the Early Scarlet 

 and the Neck Pine. 



4th. Hovey^s Seedling has produced very 

 fine and large fruit, but does not yet appear 

 much in our market. The expectations 

 from it are very high, and extensive planta- 

 tions have been and are being made. 

 Should it, on an extensive scale, equal the 

 expectations of cultivators, it will ere long 

 become one of the principal sorts in the 

 market. 



Most of the foreign sorts, and those of 

 our own country, of repute, are in the hands 

 of amateurs and cultivators, on trial, but so 

 far none have been found worthy to supplant 

 those above named. Of these the Hudson, 

 has, since its introduction among us, as- 

 sumed and decidedly maintained the lead ; 

 it is, like the other three named, a pistilate 

 plant, which will not fruit unless fertilized 

 by the pollen of a staminate plant. 



In the cultivation, there is nothing re- 

 markably differing from well known prac- 

 tices, more than a due regard to the quantity 

 of sta?ninate plants permitted to grow with 

 the 'pistilales. This is about one to every 

 ten or fifteen. To guard against an undue 

 proportion of staminates, and also to keep 

 up a constant supply of young and vigorous 

 bearing plants, new plantations are formed 

 every third or fourth year, when the old 

 plantations are turned under. This prac- 

 tice is applicable to cultivators on a small 

 or moderate scale. The remaining part of 

 the question will be fully and more satis- 

 factorily answered by a few notes of my 

 visit to, and a stroll over the Strawberry 

 fields of Kentucky. These are situated on 

 the west bank of Licking river, which emp- 

 ties its waters into the Ohio directly op- 

 posite to Cincinnati, thus affording them the 

 best facilities to carry their fruit to market. 

 My first call was about five miles up the 



river. On inquiring for the proprietor, the 

 good lady of the house informed me that 

 he was not at home, but if I would " go to 

 yon orchard," pointing to it, I should "find 

 her sister there pruni'/ig the trees ; she could 

 give me all the information I desired." I 

 soon found myself in the presence of the 

 fair Horticulturist, with her hatchet and saw 

 in hand. After making my bow, and receiv- 

 ing polite answers to my inquiries, from 

 which I learned they were but new begin- 

 ners, and had, in their first plantation, rest- 

 ed their hopes for future success on the 

 Hudson and Hovey^s Seedling, I passed on 

 about two miles farther, to what may be 

 called the •' Culbertson settlement," con- 

 sisting of seven families, all depending 

 mainly on the culture of the Strawberry, 

 to which, however, they have added the 

 Raspberry and Apple, and some other fruits. 

 I paid a visit to the oldest and largest cul- 

 tivator, ^vho kindly accompanied me over 

 the fields, and from whom I obtained the 

 following facts. The ground preferred is 

 new land, in its virgin state, i7n??iediately 

 after the ti^nber is cleared off. This is, with 

 the plough, formed into lands of four or five 

 feet wide, and extending, in length, across 

 the field. In the centre of these strips, or 

 laiids, a single row of plants is planted, two 

 feet apart, all pistilate, except every fifth or 

 sixth, which is a staminate. This planting 

 is performed in the spring, and by fall there 

 is a good supply of plants, which will yield 

 a tolerable crop of fruit the next year. All 

 the attention they receive afterwards, is run- 

 ning two or three furrows with the plough 

 between the lands, in the fall or early in 

 the spring, and at the same time, with a 

 hoe, clearing off the weeds, grass, briars, 

 &c. When, at last, these and the stami- 

 nates become too numerous, the whole is 

 turned under. The largest field I passed 



