A B C OF STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 213 



fall, so that the plants had to creep up through the vines to get 

 out into the open air. This helped to make them late. This 

 morning we made our first picking. A good many of the finest 

 berries were scattered through the potato-vine mulching. The 

 drouth had hurt them but very little, and the great clean lus- 

 cious berries hidden away in the dried-up potato-vines were in 

 beautiful shape. To get berries extra early they should be in 

 thin rows, or, better still, in hills, and we should work the 

 ground without any mulching until just before the fruit rip- 

 ens; but for a very late berry, heavy mulching is needed all 

 through the spring to keep them back, and then the shade of 

 a grapevine or of trees will also help. This, with heavy mat- 

 ted rows, will enable us to have fine large berries after the oth- 

 ers are gone; and my impression is, that sub-irrigation, with 

 the water let on at just the right time, will also help to prolong 

 the crop. 



SOME OF THE NEW STRAWBERRIES ONE OF MY HAPPY SUR- 

 PRISES. 

 From Gleanings in Bee Culture, June /, 1893. 



We have been picking strawberries that were started under 

 glass, for a month or more ; and Earliest and Darling, that 

 were not under glass at all, for the past three or four days. 

 The Earliest was only about three days ahead of the Darling. 

 The Darling gives rather larger berries. On account of the hot 

 weather and lack of sunshine, both are rather tart this season. 

 Well, my happy surprise was not in regard to the Earliest nor 

 Darling either, but it was in finding this morning some great 

 big Nick Ohmers, not red on one side, but red all over, and 

 only three or four days behind the Earliest in earliness per- 

 haps right with the Darling in that respect. Bat the Nick Oh- 

 mer is ever so much larger than either of them. We had such 

 a call for plants last fall, at 25 cts. each, that we did not save 

 very many Nick Ohmers. In fact, there is only one bed, con- 

 taining about 50 plants, and these were put out very late in the 

 fall. Of course, they have had good cultivation and plenty of 

 manure. But this would not quite account for their being 

 away ahead of almost every thing else in any way that I can 

 see, unless it is in being extra early. Why, an acre of these 

 great big berries, large, handsome, and earlier than any other 



