FARMERS' REGISTER 



667 



minds givpii us to penelrare ihe moJus operandi of 

 jjjroivih. Nor can we penetrate, olherwiee than 

 by conjecture, wliat may have been the laws ol 

 nature, previous to the era o( history and science. 

 The object is to turn the attention of newspaper 

 readers to Mr. Waii<er's book on Intermarriages. 



CULTURE OF THE STRAWBERRY. 



I'rom the Cullivator. 



3Iessrs. Gaylord and Tucker. — In my last I 

 promised to jjive you my plan of cultivating the 

 strawberry, which having succeeded for seven or 

 eight yearc!, producing a i'ull supply of fruit, with 

 much less labor, is, 1 conceive, worthy of being 

 made public. The duration of a bed cultivated 

 after my plan, is also a matter of great conse- 

 quence. 



I have never grown any of the choicest varie- 

 ties except Keene's seedling, nor have produced 

 fruit so large as 1 have seen figured or described, 

 but as to tlie amount produced on a given space, 

 1 think I can compete with the most fortunate or 

 skilful. 



For soil I choose that between Ihe extremes of 

 dry and moist, a little gravelly I preltjr, which I 

 prepare by mixing well rotted leaves, rotten wood 

 and cow yard manure in about equal quantities, 

 which 1 have well mixed with the soil, by spading 

 or ploughing in deep, if with ilie plough, some 

 two or ihree times. I then level the ground, but 

 do not raise it above the walks, so that it will re- 

 ceive and retain all Ihe water which falls upon it. 

 Thus prepared, I proceed with my plantation, ei- 

 ther in autumn or spring. The former is prefera- 

 ble, provided the weather is favorable for trans- ! 

 planting in August or September, so that the ■ 

 young plants can lake root sufficient to endure ihe | 

 winter. In planting I arrange my beds about six 

 feet wide, putting in the plants about a fool asun- 

 der each way. At or near the approach of win- 

 ter, I give a slighi covering of tan bark, say the 

 first year, the second of wet or rotting leaves, and 

 the third of some light mould or well rotted 

 manure, and so on alternately. The Ian or leaves 

 are best the first year, as either of them better 

 protects the plants. If the plantation was made in 

 autumn, by the next July or August the whole 

 eurlfice should be well covered with the vines, 

 which will spring up through the top-drer-sing 

 without ditScuity ; ai which time I pass through 

 the plantation with a spade, cutting through, say 

 lengthwise about one spit wide, and turning under 

 the plants, then leaving about the same width, and 

 so on alternately through the whole bed. Top- 

 drees as above lor the winter, and next spring, as 

 soon as the frost is out and the ground sufficiently 

 dry 10 leave the earth or soil light and mellow, I 

 cut through the bed crosswise with the spade in 

 the same manner as before. If ihe plantalion was 

 made in the spring, i!ie first spading should be 

 performed the next epiing, and so on semi-annu- 

 ally from year to year. In an old bed I take care 

 to turn under the old plants, so as always to keep 

 up a succession of new and vigorous plants — I ne- 

 ver disturb the manures, and do not know but the 

 best time to pertiarm the second spading of the sea- 

 son would he immediately after gathering the Iniit, 

 so as lO give the lunnerd a light open bdiI to lake 



root in. From the success I have met with by this 

 process, I am inclined to think vhat a bed or plan- 

 tation will last twenty years, or perhaps even a 

 century — I had a bed seven years old, in a garden 

 I abandoned, without any care last spring or even 

 last year alter the March working, which produced 

 its usual quantity of fruit tliis season. 



During the blooming season, unless in wet wea- 

 ther, I always give a eligiit watering from a pot 

 every evening to set the fruit. This must never 

 be omitted iflruit be an object. 



Another circumstance must not be overlooked, 

 that you have bearing or fi^rtile plants. A little 

 observation or skill on the part of the cullivator 

 will enable him to distinguish the barren from the 

 fertile plants, from the large, showy flowers, with 

 long stamens, red or Nack anthers of the former, 

 while the latter are almost destitute of stamens or 

 anthers, and the petals of ihe flowers are very 

 small. It is said to be necessary to plant both 

 kinds together in order to success. Of the truth 

 of this I have some doubts, but I have not expe- 

 rimented sufficiently on the matter to determine. 



As to the produce, I believe, without difficulty, 

 by my plan of culture I can crow one hundred 

 and sixty bushels of tfiis delicious fruit to the acre, 

 per annum, or one bushel to every square rod. 

 Indeed, I have f)y actual measurement greatly ex- 

 ceeded this. I. DiLLE. 



THE ICE BIOUNTAIN OF HAMPSHIRE, VA. 



Froiu Kcrclieval's History of tlie Valluy. 



This most extraordinary and wonderful work of 

 God's creation certainly deserves the highest rank 

 in the hislory of the natural curiosities ol^our coun- 

 try. This mountain is washed at its western base 

 by the North river, a branch of the Capon. It is 

 not more than one quarter of a mile north of the 

 residence of Christophei- Heiskell, esq., at North 

 river mills, in the county of Hampshire, 26 miles 

 north-west of Winchester. The west side of this 

 mountain lor about one mile is covered with loose • 

 stones of various size, many of which are of a dia- 

 mond shape. It is probably 600 or 700 feet high, 

 very steep, and presents to the eye a most grand 

 and sublime spectacle. 



At the base of the mountain, on the western 

 side, for a distance of about one hundred yards, 

 and ascending some 25 or 30 f-oi, on removing 

 the loose stone, which is easily done with a email 

 prize, the most perfectly pure and crystal looking 

 ice, at all seasons of the year, is to be found, in 

 blocks of from one or two pounds to fifteen or 

 twenty in weight. At the base of this bed of ice 

 a beautilijl spring of pure water is discharged, 

 which is by many degrees colder than any natu- 

 ral spring wa'er the author has ever seen. It is 

 believed that its natural temperature ia not many 

 degrees above the iVeezing point. Very near this 

 spring the owner of the property has removed the 

 stone, and erected a small log dairy, for the pre- 

 servation of his miik, butler and fresh meats. 

 When the author saw this little building, which 

 was late in the month of April, the openings be- 

 tween the logs, (on the side next the cavity from 

 which the stone had been taken out.) for eighteen 

 iiiches or two feet ironi the floor, were completely 

 filled with ice, and about one half the floor ivsia 



