THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



209 



If you desire fine, large, high-flavored 

 fruit, })iiich off the runners as fast as 

 they appear, repeating the o[)eration as 

 )ften as may be necessary during the 

 mniner. Every runner thus removed 

 produces a new crown at the centre of 

 tliPt plant, and in the fall the plants 

 vill liave formed large bushes or stools. 

 Ml which the finest strawberries may 

 •♦' expected the following season. In 

 the meantime, the ground among the 

 plants should be be kept clear of weeds, 

 a nd frequently stirred with a hoe or fork. 

 Covering in Winter. — Where the win- 

 tei's are severe, with little snow for pro- 

 tection, a slight covering of leaves or lit- 

 ter or the branches of evergreens, will be 

 of great service. This covering should 

 not be placed over the plants till after 

 the ground is frozen, usually from the 

 middle of November till the first of 

 December in this locality. Fatal errors 

 are often made by putting on too much 

 and too early. Care must also be taken 

 to remove the covering in spring just 

 as soon as the plants begin to grow. 



Mulching to Keep the Fruit Clean. — 

 Before the fruit begins to ripen, mulch 

 the ground among the [)lants with short 

 hay or straw, or grass mowings from 

 the lawn, or anything of that sort. 

 This will not only keep the fruit clean, 

 but will prevent the ground from drying 

 and baking, and thus lengthen the 

 fruiting season. Tan-bark can also be 

 used as a mulch. 



A bed managed in this way will give 

 two full crops, and should then be 

 spaded or jjloughed down, a new one 

 having been in the meantime prepared 

 to take its place. 



FIELD CULTURE. 



The same directions with regard to 

 soil, time of planting, protection and 

 mulching as given above, are applicable 

 when planting on a large scale. 



The Matted lioio System — the mode 

 of growing usually pursued — has its 

 2 



advantages for field culture, but cannot 

 be recommended for the garden. In 

 the field we usually plant in rows threes 

 to four feet apart, and the plants a foot 

 to a foot and a half apart in the row. 

 In this case much of the labor is per- 

 formed with the hoi-se and cultivator. 

 How to Ascertain the Number of 

 Plants Required for an Acre. — The 

 number of plants required for an acre, 

 at any given distance apart, may be 

 ascertained by dividing the number of 

 square feet in an acre (43,560) by the 

 number of square feet given to each 

 plant, which is obtained by multiplying 

 the distance between rows by the dis- 

 tance between the plants. Thus straw- 

 berries planted three feet by one foot 

 give each plant three square feet, or 

 14,520 plants to the acre. 



THE ^LIUM AURATUM AT HOME. 



The " Queen of Lilies " is thus de- 

 scribed by a correspondent of the Gar . 

 deners Chronicle : 



" Coming from the south of Japan [ 

 saw for the first time the Lilium Aura 

 tum, a little after passing the gate of 

 Hakoni, three days before arriving at 

 Yokohama. They were grown in fields, 

 as our Onions are, and quite as close to . 

 each other. As the flowei-s were begin- 

 ning to expand the sight was magnifi- 

 cent, and the scent overi)owering. It 

 was much later, and far north of Tokio, 

 that I saw them wild, coming out of 

 the margin of the natural shrubberies, 

 generally with a single huge blossom, 

 sometimes two, rarely three. It is no ■ 

 wonder we got at first notice such 

 quantities of them, as the bulbs are a 

 common article of diet with the natives, 

 and are sold everywhere as a vegetal)le- 

 in the markets. I have eaten them, 

 pretty often, and rather relished them, 

 as they are, when cooked, sweet, mucila- 

 ginous, and without any taste to make 

 them objectionable to a new comer." 



