SELECTING GROUND FOR A STRAWBERRY BED 



MRS. JOHN Gir.PlI.I,AN, KIRKTON, ONT. * 



IN locating a spot for a strawberry patch,- 

 bear in mind that the strawberry is a 

 surface feeder and consequently easily in- 

 jured or killed by a surfeit of water, or 

 during a severe drought. The land should be 

 well drained and which has been previously 

 planted to hoed crops, so that weeds will 

 give as little trouble as possible. Plow the 

 ground in the fall and again in the spring, 

 while in the meantime a liberal coat of barn- 

 yard manure should be given. The plot 

 should be thoroughly cultivated after hav- 

 ing been plowed. It is then ready for 

 marking out, which may be done in various 



The Best Sized Greenhouse 



64\ 7[ 7 HAT is the best sized greenhouse 

 V V for the ordinary florist to 

 build ?" was one of the interesting questions 

 found in the question box at the recent meet- 

 ing of the Canadian Horticultural Associa- 

 tion convention held in Ottawa. Mr. O. G. 

 Johnson, of Kingston, in replying to the 

 question said, " The size of the greenhouse 

 to be built must depend altogther on how 

 much money the builder has to spend. 



" I would suggest that the width of the 

 house be at least 17 feet, and should extend 

 north and south, with a three and a hajf 

 foot raised bench each side of the house two 

 and a half feet from the floor. A middle 

 bench or solid bed should be six feet wide. 

 Two paths two feet wide each should extend 

 down the center of the house. The ridge 

 should be eleven feet high, with ventilators 

 2x3 feet each placed 6 feet apart, eight in 

 number, on each side of the hoiise, opening 

 at the ridge. The walls should be four feet 

 high. 



" This is not a modern house by any 

 means, but one that is suitable for almost 

 everything that an ordinary florist would 

 need in any small town, with the exception, 

 of roses and violets. The best house to 



ways, with whatever the planter has con- 

 venient for the purpose. 



Cover strawberry plants in winter, after 

 the ground is sufficiently frozen. A cover- 

 ing of straw or some such material is 

 desirable to keep the ground from freezing 

 and thawing with every change of weather. 

 This covering should be removed from the 

 plants as soon as all danger of severe frosts 

 is over, and placed between the rows. It 

 will conserve moisture so necessary at the 

 growing season, keep the berries from being 

 sanded and also smother out the weeds that 

 would otherwise make their appearance. 



build is constructed on these principles, with 

 the exception of different minor arrange- 

 ments and the number of ventilators. 



" In such a house as described, I success- 

 fully raised ferns, begonias, fuschias, 

 hydrangeas, and a great many other plants 

 which like a little shade. On the middle 

 bench I grew a mixed variety of geraniums, 

 lilies, carnations, smilax, etc. The east 

 bench was an ideal one for geraniums, 

 pelargoniums, etc. It does not matter so 

 much which way the house is built for the 

 general stock of an ordinary florist, as it 

 does on the man who is in the house. If 

 the builder of the up-to-date modern green- 

 house could only build an up-to-date modern 

 florist and throw him in with the greenhouse 

 what a boon it would be." 



Do you not think it would be a wise and 

 profitable move on the part of public school 

 boards if a part of every school yard were 

 to be set apart and planted with at least a 

 single specimen of every tree that could be 

 grown in the locality? What an object les- 

 son it would be for the children, and what 

 an improvement it would eflfect in the ap- 

 pearance of the school grounds. — (F. G. 

 Keyes, Ottawa, Ont. 



Extract from a paper read at a Woman's Institute meeting. 



432 



