Z3" THE FRUIT GROWER'S GUIDE. 



must be kept down at the sides so that the birds cannot pass under. A gun must 

 be used in large cultures. 



Gathering the Crops. Strawberries for dessert should be gathered with as much of the 

 stalk as is sufficient for holding them. The morning is the best time, when the dew is 

 off, and the fruit is in the best condition when ripe to the tip. Too much care cannot be 

 exercised in gathering strawberries for dessert, one unripe, or over-ripe, or slug-eaten 

 specimen spoiling the dish. For preserving, the fruit is the most quickly and best 

 gathered with the calyx attached, but very much is picked without, and therefore soon 

 melts into a pulpy mass. 



Trimming the Plantations. When the crop is cleared, the runners, also the oldest and 

 most spreading leaves, should be cut away, and the strawy portion of the mulching 

 cleared off along with the old leaves, runners and weeds, leaving the shorter portions of 

 the mulching. If the ground has become very close it may be lightly stirred with a 

 fork, but not so deeply as to disturb the roots. It is a common practice to defer the 

 trimming until a late period. This is most unwise, as the spaces between the plants 

 become a mass of luxuriant runners, which are as exhaustive as a crop of fruit. In 

 fieldsthe runners and spare foliage are removed by hooks, the mulch taken off, the land 

 being then broken between the rows with a hand or horse hoe, and cleared from weeds. 

 Amateurs or specialists never permit the extension of runners on the plants except for 

 propagating purposes, and they only allow a few of the earliest and best to root in 

 pots .or turves to secure speedy detachment from the parents. 



Manures. Where there is a difficulty in procuring stable, farmyard, or town manure, 

 recourse must be had to soot, which is used as an auxiliary and as tending to keep slugs 

 down. It is good for all soils, applying in the spring at the rate of 40 bushels per acre, 

 increasing the amount when deemed necessary. On poor land it is desirable to apply 

 a mixture of equal parts bone meal and kainit in the autumn, say 3 pounds per rod, 

 and follow in the spring with 2 pounds per rod of nitrate of soda on dry soil, somewhat 

 less if the ground be damp. Nitrate of soda is peculiarly valuable on light and calcareous 

 soils and is wonderfully efficacious in dry seasons. It should be powdered and kept 

 from the crowns ; some growers use a second dressing about the time the flowers open, 

 and thus increase the yield of fruit. 



Winter Treatment. Digging between the rows with a spade is injurious. Some 

 growers, especially in the northern parts of the country, lightly turn over the soil with 

 a fork in the winter to bury annual weeds and secure a good tilth. In fields the plants 



