STRAWBERRY 



STRELITZIA 



3271 



the pots are once purchased the cost of each method 

 should be about the same. 



The pot method as practised at Cornell University is 

 about as follows: As early in the spring as possible large 

 plants are set in well-enriched soil. The first strong 

 runners made by these plants are secured and potted. 

 Numerous 2- of 3-inch pots filled with good soil are 

 plunged to the rim along the strawberry row. The 

 runners are trained to these pots, and a small stone is 

 placed on each runner to keep it from growing beyond 

 the pot. When the pot is filled with roots the young 

 plant is cut from the parent stock, the pots lifted and 

 taken to the potting-shed or other convenient place, 

 where they are at once shifted into the fruiting-pots 

 (usually a 6-inch pot). The soil used at this time should 

 be three parts fibrous loam and one of good sharp sand. 

 This potting-soil should have mixed with it bone-flour 

 or dissolved rock at the rate of about one pint to two 

 bushels of soil. Ample drainage should be given, as 

 through the season of ripening the crowns and the 

 following forcing-period, a large quantity of water must 

 be given and none should be allowed to stand around 

 the roots. 



The pots should then be plunged to near the rim in 

 some coarse material, preferably coal-ashes, which, if 

 deep enough to extend from 4 to 6 inches below the 

 plunged pots, will prevent the earthworms from enter- 

 ing the pots. The use of a frame in which to plunge the 

 pots is recommended for protection against heavy rains 

 or early frosts. Attention to watering is all that will be 

 necessary through the growing season. Late in Sep- 

 tember or early in October the pots will be filled with 

 roots and the plants will have attained their full growth. 

 At this time larger and firmer crowns will be had by 

 careful attention to watering and subsequent drying off 

 to almost the wilting stage than by watering the plants 

 up to the time of freezing weather. The drying process 

 seems to represent the late fall season and causes the 

 plant to store up material in the crowns at an earlier 

 period. At the coming of cold weather the soil in the 

 pots may be allowed to freeze. It is very desirable that 

 the soil be on the drj- side before freezing, for if the ball 

 of earth is wet there is danger of breaking the pots 

 when the cold becomes intense. The period of forcing, 



3732. A good winter strawberry plant in bloom. 



from the time the frozen plants are brought in until 

 the ripening of the fruits, will be about eight weeks. The 

 time will van," slightly under different conditions of 

 heat and sunlight. When first brought in, the plants 

 should be cleaned of all dead or diseased leaves. The 

 pots should be plunged to near the rim in some material 

 that will retain moisture, e. g., tanbark or coal-ashes. 

 The benches or shelves should be as near the glass as 

 convenient. A thorough spraying with bordeaux mix- 



ture or some other fungicide should be made at once. 

 For the first few days the house should be held at about 

 35, with little if any rise through the day. After a week 

 a rise of 10 may be given. At the end of the second 

 week 50 at night, with a rise of 10 to 15 through the 

 day, will be about right. 



Strict attention must be given to syringing the foli- 

 age every pleasant day. Keep the walks wet until the 

 time of blossoming. This moisture keeps down the 

 red-spider. At blossomin;: time the house should be 

 allowed to dry out, and a free circulation of air should 

 be maintained through the middle of the day, in order to 

 ripen the pollen. It is necessary to pollinate each flower 

 by hand. The pollination may be done in the middle of 

 the day while the houses are dry. A small camel-hair 

 brush is useful for distributing the pollen. A ladle or 

 spoon should also be provided in order to carry the sur- 

 plus pollen. The surplus pollen may be used on varieties 

 that are pistillate or do not have pollen enough to set 

 their own fruits. Six to eight fruits are enough for a 

 6-inch pot. When these are set the remaining flowers 

 should be cut off, in order that the entire strength of 

 the plant may go to swelling the chosen fruits. After 

 swelling begins, liquid manure should be given. During 

 the first week give one dilute application. After this 

 give two applications a week, increasing the strength 

 of the manure liquid each time. Well-rotted cow- 

 manure or sheep-droppings furnish good material for 

 this purpose. When the fruits are coloring the liquid 

 manure should be withheld and only clear water given. 

 As they swell, the fruits will need support, and the best 

 method of furnishing this is probably by using small- 

 meshed window-screen wire cut into suitable squares. 

 These squares may be laid on the pot, under the clus- 

 ters of fruits. They hold the fruits away from the 

 sides of the pots, protect them from any water or liquid 

 manure that is given the plants, and enhance the 

 beauty of the potted plant. After one fruiting, the 

 plants are worthless. c. E. HTJNN. 



STRAWBERRY BUSH: Etvnymus americana. S. Geranium: 

 Saxifrapa aarmentosa. S.-Raspberry: Rvbus Mecebrosus. S. Tomato: 

 Ph'jsalis Alkekengi and other species of Physalis. S. Tree: Arbutus 

 Unedo. 



STRELITZIA (for the wife of King George III, 

 Charlotte Sophia, of the family Mecklinburgh-Strelitz, 

 a patron of botany). Musaces. BIRD-OF-PABADISE 

 FLOWER. Perennial herbs, adapted to the warmhouse, 

 grown for the banana-like foliage and the very odd 

 showy flowers. 



Rhizome sometimes subterranean, sometimes an 

 erect woody st. : Ivs. large, long-petioled: scape terminal 

 or in the upper axils, short-exserted from the sheaths of 

 the Ivs. : bracts large, spathe-like, boat-shaped, acumi- 

 nate, solitary at the end of the scape or 2 slightly dis- 

 tant: perianth long-exserted; sepals free, long, carinate; 

 petals very dissimilar; stamens 5; ovary 3-celled, many- 

 seeded. About 5 species, S. Afr. The genus has been 

 monographed by K. Schumann in Engler's Pflanzen- 

 reich, hft. 1 (IV. 45) 1900. 



The Strelitzia Regime requires a strong soil, a copious 

 supply of water, and considerable sunlight. It is a 

 serviceable plant for house decoration or for the porch 

 or lawn in summer. It will endure much neglect, but 

 unless well cared for it may fail to bloom regularly and 

 well. A night temperature of 50 is sufficient. This 

 plant may be induced to set seed if the flowers are hand- 

 fertilized. The usual method of propagation, however, 

 is by suckers and division. 



A. Plant nearly stemless. 



B. Lvs. ovate or ovate-oblong, margin crisped. 



Regime, Banks. BIRD-OF-PARADISE FLOWER. Fig. 



3733. About 3 ft. high: roots large, strong-growing: 



Ivs. oblong, about 1 ft. long, stiff, concave; If.-stalks 



all radical, 2-3 times as long as the Ivs.: scape higher 



