STRAAVBERRIES AND THEIR CULTURE. 



4. Mulching, Avhether of straw, hay, grass, long manure, &c. is necessary for the pro- 

 tection of the fiuit from dust, while, in dry seasons, it subserves in a great measure the 

 requirement of dew and rain. Mr. Downing's free and successful trial of tan-bark as a 

 mulcher for strawberries will probably give it a preference over other materials. Prof. 

 Mafes considers the tannic acid it contains specifically applicable to the strawberry, 

 which adds another inducement for its general use. 



5. Some strawberries flourish as well, if not better, in rows or in crowded beds. Ex- 

 amples: Crimson Cone, Ilovey's Seedling, Iowa, Alpine, Wood, &c. Others, on thecon- 

 trary, require planting in stools at liberal distances— Avhether dependent on sun and day- 

 light or circulation of air— if large and fine flavored fruit in any quantity be expected. 

 British Queen, Hyatt's Eliza, Deplford Pine, Schiller and Wiley, should never be plant- 

 ed at less distances than two feet, while three and four feet, will enhance their size and 

 quality. 



6. Specific inorganic manures. — Many strawberry plants apparently demand varied 

 specific nutrition, as much so as different families of trees. A large bed was prepared and 

 divided into three equal portions; one containing potash neutralized by muck; another 

 ashes treated in the same manner; and last phosphate of lime (Bone-dust.) Lines of the 

 same plants extended across the three soils. Boston Pine, Crimson Cone, Iowa, Burr's 

 Seedling, Columbus, Rival Hudson, Late Prolific, Wiley, British Queen, Mjatt's Eliza, 

 Victoria, Huntman's Pistillale, Scarlet Melting, Ohio Mammoth and Scioto displayed a 

 sturdy growth throughout this entire triple tract; at the same time they exhibited a 

 positive preference for the potash over the ashes; for the ashes over the bone-dust. 



Buist's Prize, conversely, grew more vigorously and bore larger fruit where the bone- 

 dust had been applied. 



Black Prince grew with a sickly foliage, producing small and insipid fruit where potash 

 and ashes were used; and the plants were miserable and the fruit almost worthless on 

 the bone-dust tract. Tasting the latter variety from my neighbor, Mr. Downing's tan- 

 bark bed, it was certainly excellent; confirming the judgment of its advocates, while the 

 former justified the opinion of its opponents. Another illustration, requiring further at- 

 tention, offers singular interest touching specific nutrition. A bed of plants, procured as 

 Higgin's seedling, was fertilized with the following inorganic manures: Sulphur flour 1 

 pint; iron cinders 12; charcoal 40. The color and flavor of the fruit were similar to those 

 of Mr. Downing's Black Prince. The product was enormous as to numbers; the average 

 size approached three inches, and very many specimens exceeded four inches in circum- 

 ference. Mr. Downing and others pronounce this strawberry to be the Black Prince! 

 [We believe Higgins' seedling is a scarlet strawberry— the sort sent Dr. Hull under this 

 name, Avas a very dark colored fruit — undoubtedly the Black Prince. Ed.] 



7. Lime, in almost every form, unless neutralised by fresh muck, or other substances, 

 will injure most varieties of strawberry plants, and vitiate their fruit. The same objec- 

 tion will probably apply to potash in a crude state. A bed of Hovey's Seedling, where 

 crude lime and potash were used, labored through two years of sickly existence, produc- 

 ing small and flavorless fruit, and reached a fatal decline this spring. Last year some vi- 

 gorous plants of Hovey's Seedling were placed in the border of a bed specifically compos- 

 ed for the pear tree, phosphates of lime forming an important proportion. These plants 

 have barely lived, and have not produced a single blossom this season. 



I. Staminates — of these the following have been selected. 



British Queen. — This strawberry far exceeds all others in regard to size, flavor and 

 numbir. Specimens, four and five inches in circumference, with a delicate polished sur- 



