Ihe Canadian Horticulturist. 

 ESSENTIALS IN STRAWBERRY GROWING. 



ROF. LAZENBY, before the Columbus Horticultural Society, gave 

 the following summary of essential points to be kept in mind: (i) 

 The most profitable varieties for the commercial grower are those 

 not easily influenced by differences of soil and climate. Those 

 which succeed well on wide areas are usually better than those which 

 have a more local reputation. (2) Pistillate varieties, when properly 

 fertilized, are more productive than the sorts with perfect flowers. 

 (3) The value of a variety for fertilizing pistillate flowers does not depend so 

 much upon the amount as upon the potency of its pollen. (4) The flowers of 

 pistillate varieties are less liable to be injured by frost than the flowers of perfect 

 varieties. (5) Varieties that are neither very early nor very late in points of 

 maturity, are the most productive and have the longest fruiting season. (6) As 

 a rule, varieties that have the most vigorous and healthy foliage are the least 

 productive, while those with a weaker growth of foliage and a greater suscepti- 

 bility of leaf-blight are usually more prolific. (7) Winter protection may be 

 dispensed with upon well drained, sandy soils, but appears to be a necessity 

 upon heavier ones. (8) The leaf-blight may be checked by using the Bordeaux 

 mixture, beginning just as soon as the leaves appear and continuing the applica- 

 tion every few weeks throughout the season. 



WATERING LARGE AND SMALL FRUITS. 



PPLES, peaches, pears and similar fruits should be thoroughly irri- 

 gated in the fall, as soon as the leaves are brown or fall off, then 

 again in the spring as soon as the frost is out of the ground. The 

 orchard should always be cultivated and kept free from weeds. 

 Until the trees shade all of the ground, more or less crops that 

 require cultivation may be raised among the trees. The cultivation 

 of fruit trees should be merely surface deep, so as not to disturb the 

 rootlets which seek the very top of the soil for sunshine and air to support and 

 mature the fruit. Too much water is as injurious as too little for fruit trees, 

 same as for other crops. Orchards should never be irrigated later than the 

 last of July, until the leaves fall off in the fall. 



Small fruits and strawberries should be watered two or three times a week 

 during the remainder of the season to prevent the soil from becoming dry. 

 Blackberries and raspberries do not require watering as often as strawberries, 

 but the ground should be kept m.oist. Strawberries, blackberries and raspberries 

 yield the best returns, if, in addition to irrigating by flooding, the vines and 

 bushes are sprayed with water from a hose. 



