110 strawberry Culture. 



phere a long time. Its long slender stems of foliage, laid lightly on the head and 

 drooping to the shouldgr, with two or three rosebuds, lilies of the valley, fuchsias, 

 or any of the papilionaceous blossoms make a very becoming decoration which is 

 easily arranged. The maurandla, when in bloom, is a pretty vine to garland the 

 hair; a bit of scarlet geranium or verbena should fasten it. Fronds of the slenderest 

 ferns are very graceful head-dresses, with the addition of an azalea, or camellia, or 

 rose ; and long ribbons of variegated grass, with its plumy blossoms, are handsome 

 verdure for stevia and bouvardia ; while rose or lemon geranium leaves accord well 

 with carnations or roses, and acacia or heath with tuberoses and adlumia. with its 

 twining stems and drooping florets, and are very beautiful for the same purpose. But 

 one caution is needful: there is danger of too much ornament; the lighter and sim- 

 pler the arrangement, the more becoming it will be. And the same rule holds good 

 in all floral decorations ; crowding, and excess, and profusion detract from beauty 



and grace. 



** 



Strawberry Culture. 



EDITOR OF THE Horticulturist. — The article of F. A. Simpkins, on straw- 

 berry culture, in the January No. of The Hortculturist, should be qualified 

 in some of its statements. 



The object in mulching strawberries is fourfold : 



First. — The first and primary object in mulching strawberries is to protect them 

 during the late fall, winter, and early spring months. The object is not so much 

 to keep the ground from freezing as to prevent the frequent thawing and freezing 

 of the surface of the ground during alternating warm and cold da^^s and nights. 

 "When tlio surface of the ground is once frozen in the fall, it is important that 

 it should remain frozen until spring. This is especially the case with light soils. 

 The repeated freezing and thawing of the surface very frequently results in the 

 breaking of the main roots of the plant in case the ground is very wet. In case the 

 ground is dry, the frequent freezing and thawing of the surface renders it still 

 dryer, and the plant sufi"ers for the want of moisture at the root, and from the action 

 of the wind in moving the soil from the roots. These remarks are applicable to the 

 light sandy soils, especially, of the prairies of the West, and in latitudes where snow 

 cannot be depended on for a covering during the winter, and where it is sufficiently 

 cold during the winter months to freeze the soil frequently to any considerable depth. 

 So much for winter mulching. 



Second. — A second object iu mulching strawberries, is to keep the surface of the 

 ground cool, moist and mellow during the hot, dry season that usually sets in about 

 the time the fruit is maturing. If the ground becomes hot, dry and hard just at 

 this juncture, the crop will be cut short from one-half to two-thirds in quantity, and 

 will be very inferior in quality. The quantity of mulching that can be used to ad- 

 vantage while the fruit is forming in the spring, will of course depend much on the 

 mode of culture. On this point it will be sufficient to say, that let the mode of cul- 

 ture be what it may, whatever ground is not covered with vines, should be covered 

 with mulching. If mulching has been used during the winter for a protection, it is 

 well to remove it in the spring until the ground warms, and then to replace it. 



