FRUITS 219 



first year. Those set in the fall bear a few more berries, 

 but there is only a fraction of a crop the first spring. 

 The main crop is borne the second year. 



Some varieties of strawberries produce flowers contain- 

 ing pistils, but no perfect stamens. Among these imperfect 

 or pistillate varieties, every third or fourth row should be 

 planted with perfect kinds to furnish pollen. Perfect 

 varieties are marked in most catalogues with the letter ".$." 

 meaning that the variety bears stamens as well as pistils, 

 or by the letter " b" meaning bi-sexual, or having two 

 sexes. The names of the imperfect varieties are followed 

 by the letter "/," which here stands for the word " pis- 

 tillate." For home use there should be both early and 

 late varieties. The following are all among the staminate 

 or perfect varieties : Excelsior (early), Lady Thompson 

 and Klondike (rather early and hardy), Gandy (large and 

 late). 



Strawberry plants need to be well fertilized with a com- 

 plete fertilizer. The bed should be renewed every few 

 years because young plants bear more fruit than old ones. 

 To start a new bed set the young plants that form 

 where the runners take root. 



When a fruit tree is old enough to transplant. A 

 nurseryman does not count the age of a tree from the 

 time the seed is planted, but from the time of budding or 

 grafting it. Peach trees are ready to transplant one year 

 after the budding has been done. The apple tree is trans- 

 planted when either one, two, or three years old. 



Setting a fruit tree. The time to set a fruit tree 

 is after the leaves fall and before the buds swell in the 



