402 STATE HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 



How can I tell perfect blooming strawberries from pistillate 

 sort? I fear that I can'fc explain with pen and ink so you can dis- 

 tinguish their blossoms. All perfect bloomers have a little yellow stem 

 about one-fourth of an inch long inside the bloom leaf, the part that 

 makes the berry, while all pistillates are bare of stamens, or those lit- 

 tle stems, and thus must have a perfect bloomer staminate sort within 

 16 feet. 



Will wild strawberries grow large by cultivation ? Yes. I 

 selected the best that I could find growing wild, and planted and culti- 

 vated same as tame varieties. They yield about one-fourth as much in 

 quantity as standard tame varieties of small berries, but in flavor no 

 tame sorts are better. 



Which are the four largest strawberries ? Bubach, Robison 

 Cumberland and Warfield. This may differ in localities. Windsor 

 Chief would with me be the fifth largest of new varieties, but it is not 

 sufiBciently tested. Haverland, Belmont, Marshall, Shyster and Cham- 

 pion of England. 



Do such and such varieties have to be fertilized with such and 

 such! No, not as a rule ; but some perfect bloomers will waste or 

 drop their pollen before some of the pistillate sorts are ready to be 

 fertilized, and thus noi be sufiticiently fertilized to produce a full crop. 



Which are best to make others bear? Michel's Early, Captain 

 Jack, Eobison and others that have strong pollen will fertilize pistil- 

 late varieties farther than some weak staminate. 



How many plants can be grown from one plant a season ! Ten to 

 100, owing to varieties and season, distance of plants, fertility of soil, 

 etc. Warfield, Crescent, Captain Jack and Eobison are some of the 

 best plant producers. Parker's Earle, one of the poorest, grows more 

 to stool or crowns. 



How far apart should strawberry plants be set? For field culture 

 I set 12 to 15 inches apart in the rows, and rows about four feet apart, 

 taking about 10,000 plants to the acre. For garden culture, 12 to 15 

 inches apart in rows, and rows 15 to 24 inches apart. The runners 

 that will make plants should be cut off before they take root, thus the 

 plants will grow to stool and make more fruit stems instead of exhaust- 

 ing themselves in making plants. With a few months cultivation, and 

 then kept well mulched with old straw cr like material, a bed will last 

 for years without renewing. 



Which is the safest and cheapest way to send strawberry plants, 

 and what will they cost? Two hundred can be sent in one package by 

 mail, weighing about four pounds ( if leaves are trimmed, which should 

 be even for home planting ), and costing eight cents per pound. Two 



