A B C OF STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 229 



ducing new varieties, all his life. I have also included what 

 friend Beaver has to say about the importance of mulching dur- 

 ing a dry time, as it is certainly of interest to all strawberry- 

 growers, even if it has no direct bearing on the subject of jadoo. 

 From a newspaper clipping forwarded me by Mr. Beaver I 

 take the following : 



MULCHING DURING FRUITING, ETC. 



Mr. Beaver said one cause of failure in strawberry culture in a dry sea- 

 son was insufficient mulch around the plants to keep the soil cool and 

 moist. The soil on his strawberry -beds was so wet that he had to protect 

 his knees against the moisture while gathering the fruit, and all this with- 

 out irrigation simply plenty of good mulching. Mr. Beaver showed four 

 plates of strawberries of such unusually large size and fine color as entire- 

 ly to dispel all doubts as to the correctness of his mode of culture. 



DIFFERENT VARIETIES ; PICKING THEM OUT BY BOOKING AT 

 THE FOLIAGE, ETC. 



An expert with apple-trees will go into an orchard and pick 

 out the different kinds by the shape of the tree, wood, leaf, 

 etc. , even before any fruit has made its appearance. In the 

 same way, an expert strawberry-man will name many of the 

 kinds just by looking at the plants, before they have borne 

 fruit. It is almost impossible to explain how this is done ; but 

 most varieties of strawberries have certain peculiarities or " ear- 

 marks," we might almost say, that distinguish them at a glance. 

 One of the most marked cases of this kind that I know of is in 

 regard to the Nick Ohmer ; and our friend Beaver, in the letter 

 above, alludes to it. This plant, every little while, sends up a 

 stem with four leaves instead of three. It is like a four-leafed 

 clover ; and, stranger still, in almost every patch of a dozen or 

 two plants you will find here and there not only a four-leafed 

 plant, but one of these four will have a leaf united clear around, 

 so as to make a funnel-shaped cup ; in fact, I have picked off 

 these cup-shaped leaves and given them to the children, show- 

 ing them they could get a small drink of water out of these 

 strawberry-leaves. Now, to one who makes strawberry-plants 

 a study, and who loves to hunt up and discover these peculiar 



