98 APPENDIX. 
I plant the pistillate for fruit, and the hermaphrodite 
for impregnators; and the only two which I have 
found to bloom and fruit together the whole season are 
the Hovey Seedling and Large Early Scarlet. Ross 
Phoenix, Burr’s New Pine, and a seedling of my own, 
not yet fully tested, I have also caused to bear continu- 
ously. I plant seven rows of the pistillate, and one 
row of the hermaphrodite, two feet apart each way. 
The first season I let the runners fill the ground; in 
the fall, ¢o through the grounds with hoes, thinning 
out to 8 or 10 inches, leaving the vines to decay just 
where they are cut up. I then cover the whole bed 
with partially decomposed leaves from the woods or 
swamps. The winter rains beat down the leaves, the 
fruit-germ finds its way through them, and the first mild 
weather of spring, the blossoms appear. 
I have before spoken of the volatile nature of the 
pollen. In very dry weather the particles float off on 
the winds, and much is lost to the buds below; hence 
the importance of watering freely when in-bloom. 
Free applications of water will set the whole bed with 
fruit, which will require continuous watering to swell 
and ripen it. A strawberry bed may be moist, the 
plants in fine condition, and yet one good shower will 
make a difference of one-third in the quantity of fruit 
picked the day after. Consequently, in dry seasons, 
artificial watermg must be resorted to, and no labor 
will pay better. 
I never use animal manure of any kind—nothing 
but the leaf-mould, and an occasional sprinkling of 
wood-ashes. The leaf-mould keeps the ground cool 
and moist, as well as the fruit clean, and does not sti- 
