246 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



one or two others after the young shoots appear, will, to a large extent, prevent 

 the spread of the disease. In order to secure a proper growth of the plants, 

 regular cultivation should be kept up during the season up to the middle of 

 August. After each rain the soil should be stirred, and in this way the moisture 

 will be conserved, and the proper ripening of the fruit and a strong new growth 

 will be secured to carry the plant through the winter. 



Strawberries. — If a strawberry bed is to be kept for one or more years, it 

 should be worked over as soon as possible after the crop is gathered, in order 

 that the new plants may find a soil in suitable condition for starting into growth. 

 If the field contains much grass and tall weeds, it is often a good thing to cut 

 them with a mower, and if there is so heavy a mulch that it will hinder working 

 the land, it can often be burned off. The fire will also destroy many insects, 

 and, as the old strawberry leaves will also be burned, most of the spores of the 

 leaf blight will be destroyed, and the injury the following year lessened. The 

 bed may be broken up in various ways, among the best being to turn furrows 

 away from either side of the row, leaving only a narrow strip with plants upon it. 

 The furrows can then be worked down with a culitvator, and the rows of plants 

 thinned out and freed from weeds with a hoe. In this way the ground will be 

 broken up and prepared for the new plants that will be formed. Especially if 

 the summer is a dry one, the cultivator should be kept going throughout the 

 month of August, so that a crust can form. The new plantation also should 

 receive similar care, so far as the cultivation and the hoeing are concerned. One 

 of the principal reasons for the running out of varieties is that they become 

 subject to and weakened by the so-called rust or leaf blight. In the case 

 of some varieties, much of the foliage is entirely destroyed, and the spots are so 

 numerous upon the flower stems that they are girdled, and as a result they 

 shrivel and the fruit dries up. From this cause half the crop is often lost. It 

 has been found that this disease can be kept in check, if the plants are properly 

 sprayed with Bordeaux mixture. This should be put on in July or early in 

 August, in order that the plants may make a healthy growth during the fall. 

 This should be repeated in the spring before the growth starts, and again as 

 soon as the blossoms are off. By the last application the flower stalks will be 

 covered with fungicide, and the chance of the drying up of the berries will be 

 greatly reduced. 



Currants and Gooseberries. — In addition to the thorough cultivation and 

 hoeing which should be given to currants and gooseberries, in common with all 

 other small fruits, they will also require one or more applications of fungicides in 

 order that they may retain their foliage, and make a proper growth. The 

 various spot diseases to which the currant is subject, and the mildew, of the 

 European gooseberries in particular, by which these fruits are so frequently 

 defoliated, can all be controlled, but to be entirely effective the remedies should 

 be applied somewhat earlier in the season. From the above it will be seen that 



