Strawberry Culture 57 



expected that any one will buy many to start with, but if one 

 desires to keep up with the times, he can buy half a dozen, and 

 see for himself whether it is an acquisition. 



Raising Seedlings 



There is great pleasure in raising new varieties from seed. 

 They come into bearing so soon, and it is so easy to combine 

 the qualities of two varieties, one being imperfect or pistillate, 

 and the other perfect or bi-sexual. Suppose that one wants to 

 produce a desirable, very late variety. He could select the Hunn 

 which is the latest of all, pistillate, and somewhat inclined to 

 rust. This would be the mother, or seed-bearing variety. For 

 the male parent he could choose the Joe, which has perfect foli- 

 age and is in every way desirable. One plant of each could 

 be planted together in the fall or early spring, away from other 

 sorts, and a few fine berries grown. The outside of the berry, 

 containing the seed, is pared off and mixed with sand and then 

 dried. It will keep at least three years. It may be sown at 

 once and given some shade and water until it comes up, which 

 it will do in from two to four weeks. Some of the seeds will re- 

 main dormant until spring. The young seedlings are very 

 small at first, and will need attention lest they dry up or get 

 choked with weeds. As soon as they can be handled they 

 should be transplanted a few inches apart so that they may have 

 room to become stocky. In September they will be ready to be 

 transferred to the place where they are to fruit. They should 

 then receive the same care as is given to fall-set plants. Most 

 important of all, they must be protected in winter. It requires 

 care to raise seedlings in the summer, as a little drying may be 

 too much for them. 



