1736 



STRAWBERRY 



STRAWBERRY 



mens that they are practically pistillate or sterile. Any New varieties of Strawberries are raised from seed 



variety will fertilize any other variety if it hears suili- with the greatest ease. The generations of Strawberries 

 cient pollen and if the two kinds bloom at the same time. are short and new varieties soon find favor. The varie- 

 When planting pistillate varieties, every third row ties change so frequently in popular estimation that it is 



impracticable to recommend a list of them in a work like 

 this. The first great American berry was the Hovey 

 J** (pig, 1088, Vol. Il|. Perhaps the most popular single 



$§£&[*■ /-/^ v -'^j r j-t 5 . variety has been the Wilson ( Pig. 2420 ) , now practically 



< ^\\)'^/J£i^ m extinct. I'll-' accompanying pictures (Pigs. 2421-2425) 



-*^\ tf 4W 'f 1 " show types of American Strawberries, 



.^js^v r'*';//^^/ / ^^ e common garden Strawberries are the progeny of 



^•/f/ 1 1 Fragaria Chiloensis, native to the Pacific coast of 



""Tj/ ^Jl^~,J, J America, and first introduced to cultivation from Chile 



flt I 3p^->,i*>"/ nearly 200 years ago. See Fragaria. In Europe the 



«i^^= =c ^T s *=a~_ Alpine and Hautbois types of Strawberries (/'. vesca 



\v/^ il'|'^* Ss * and ^. moschata) are highly prized as dessert fruits, 



t 'i*Jwa&&e*JI$l These are sometimes grown in this country by amateurs, 



7Y ' ksBsH ">ut they are unknown to commercial Strawberry cul- 



ture. The native Fragaria I'irginiava, everywhere 

 common in fields in eastern North America, gives little 

 promise under cultivation. It usually runs strongly to 

 vine, at the expense of fruit-bearing. 



There are several serious fungous diseases and insect 



pests of the Strawberry. The fundamental treatment 



for all these is to fruit the bed but once, or at most but 



twice, and to grow succeeding crops on other land, 



2416. Pot-grown Strawberry plant. cleaning up the old plantation thoroughly after the last 



fruiting. Short, quick and sharp rotations and clean 

 should be a pollen-bearing kind. The horticultural culture do much to keep all enemies in check. Most of 

 bearing of the sexual characters of the Strawberry the fungous enemies are kept in check with relative 

 flower seems to have been first clearly explained in this ease by spraying with Bordeaux mixture. Pig. 2426. 

 country by Nicholas Longworth, of Cincinnati (see The American book writings on the Strawberry are: 



Long worth; also his essay on the subject in his "Culti- R. G. Pardee, "A Complete Manual of the Cultivation of 

 vation of the Grape," 1840, and the "Straw- 

 berry Report" of the Cincinnati Horticultural ^^ 



Society, 1848). When many of the akenes or ^vA. / i* ! ~^\. -4*~~ '/ 4^*~')- 



"seeds" of the Strawberry are not fertilized / *w/ M s/^V, '*"\ ( / 



or are killed by frost or other means, the berry Li ,.,W f~\. / ~"*4 \J'Ai' I C~' 



fails to develop at that point and a "nubbin," ^ ^ A Ao"A.^^ / , ^fc» V "M^siV ^L «i-- 



or imperfecl berry, is the result Pig. 2419. ( "^c^-^fe^j ( vv -*■$*%> f 



Nubbins are u nail; most abundant lati in the ^- ■So' : ' , ''J?fe>* "*"" % W* ' 



fruiting season, when the pollen supply is 7 - J»'i'>§r*' ' \ ' ~ °0m^ _■ ^i- 'J 7 '■' 



small and when the plants are relatively ex- \ ' >» .wPhT* "^n / 



hausted. J\ ,rV% > ., I 



The cost of growing an acre of Strawber- I /<■ | fc. -^ 



ries under commercial conditions in Oswego " 



county, New York (which is one of the lead- 

 ing Strawberry centers of the North) is ap- 

 proximately as follows: 



Rent of land, two years $11 00 



Plowing and fitting 00 



Plants 15 00 



Setting plants 4 00 



Cultivation 16 00 2418. Sexes of Strawberry flowers. 



Straw for winter and fruiting mulch 15 00 ... ., , e . „ . a . ., . .. . .... . a „, . ,, . , - 



Labor-hoeing, pulling weeds, etc Ill 00 At the left ' a P erfect fl ° w( ; r: ,f the right a pistillate flower (lacking 



& " stamens) ; m the middle, stamens tew. 



Total cost $77 00 



Many growers raise berries at a much less cost, and a the Strawberry," New York, 1854, and subsequent edi- 



few exceed this sum especially when located near a tions; A. S. Puller, "The Illustrated Strawberry Cul- 



large town where rents are high; but it would be safe turist," New York, 1862, and subsequent editions; J. M. 



for one about to engage in Strawberry-growing tofigure Merrick, Jr., "The Strawberry and its Culture," Boston, 



close to this total, aside from the cost of fertilizer. 1870; Charles Barnard, "The Strawberry Garden, "Bos- 

 ton, 1871; T. B. Terry and A. I. Root, "How to Grow 



__^^ v MtAlgt 8te IK Strawberries," Medina, Ohio, 1890; L. J. Farmer, 



\\5$K^l\Kvl "Farmer on the Strawberry," Pulaski, N. Y., 1891. 



f ^?^'\>-!< ■"•■'■ ^ - N\ N }%■ 'V' 1v'„ Aside from these writings, the Strawberry is well 



,'■' .' ' " ^•^XJ^Mil"" treated in various books devoted to small fruits and to 



\ , ■''■ . ^^T7/M|| fruit in general. L. H. B. 



■£'4rV?/r : r*~-'' '' ''^tlAililllW' Culture of Strawberries. - [The following article 



*<:* * -' "- _ '- "; Jr- -1--- was written for the Editor some ten years ago by the 



- ;,-" - .- "-*- . ~''-*S late J. M. Smith, Green Bay, Wis., long known as one 



-:">*?5K55J&MHBifeI5rt-. ''' the most expert Strawberry-growers. It has never 



^r- - ... r£~-" ^ - - V X <\- been published. Mr. Smith was born at Morristown, 



• - 5 ^£iaJ6»Brg»iSfeffitSr"^^7r^ffi N - J -. Jan - 13 > 1820 > and died at Green Bay, Feb. 20, 



~ n ~G^_ 5EB^1M?S '''" 1894. -L. H. B.] 



-~' -- \--- - ' ■ .^~. -_- _ ^ - The Strawberry will grow and thrive in all parts of 



"^ i, : . -- ' ' * the United States where any fruit will grow, and yet, 



^."— ^s^f - ;r-..! C'vv* ' "': ,-v. strange as it may seem to young readers, fifty years 



~~ / ' : '^' T ----- - i ^.'_ . ago it was scarcely known except as a wild fruit. The 



"*ww6S* writer has no recollection of ever seeing more than one 



2417. Heavy mulching of Strawberry plants, as practiced in small bed of Strawberries cultivated before he was 25 



parts of the North. years old. In boyhood he often accompanied his father 



