28 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1897. 



in rows from three to five feet apart and from eighteen inches to two 

 feet apart in the rows, dependiug upon the habit and free growth of 

 the variety, and allowing the plants to cover the ground except nar- 

 row paths between the beds. For the garden or exhibition, planting 

 in single rows or in hills may prove more satisfactory. 



It requires two years to grow a strawberry crop, therefore the 

 ground should be thoroughly prepared and enriched sufficient to 

 mature the fruit the second year. If this is done and the ground 

 kept clear of weeds the first season it will require no care the second 

 year. It is impossible to recommend varieties that will prove equally 

 satisfactory under different conditions. There is no fruit that varies 

 so much in different, though nearby locations. 



The leading varieties as seen in the Boston market are Belmont, 

 Bubach, Haviland, Leader, and Marshall. The Marshall has no 

 peer as an exhibition berry. Last year was the first that it had been 

 fruited as a field crop, and there was some complaint that it did not 

 prove sufficiently productive to make it desirable for that purpose ; 

 but its size, quality, and beauty, must make it a favorite for the 

 garden and exhibition. 



In the strawberry we have an illustration of deterioration from 

 continued reproduction by offsets or runners. None of the popular 

 varieties of twenty-five years ago are in cultivation at the present 

 time ; not that the new comers are superior in any marked degree, 

 but the old varieties were worn out and failed to produce crops. 

 The Triomph de Gand, Jucunda, Laconstante, and even Hovey's 

 Seedling, which antedates them all, would lose little in comparison 

 with the popular varieties of to-day, either in beauty or quality. 



The present standard of our fruits can only be sustained by con- 

 tinued renewal. The fruit growers have not kept pace with the 

 florists in improvement made upon scientific principles, as note the 

 improvement in the Carnation Rose and Chrysanthemum made within 

 the past few years ; and this advance has been made by hybridiza- 

 tion, by working for a definite purpose, by crossing parents, each of 

 which had some distinct points of excellence in size, form, color, 

 or vigor in growth. The stock raiser breeds for a definite purpose, 

 crossing parents that possess a combination of the qualities he seeks 

 to secure. To the fruit grower this field of investigation and expe- 

 riment should prove a fascinating one, though requiring study, care, 

 and perseverance. It is receiving more attention among horticul- 

 turists than formerly. 



In the horticultural department at the Agricultural College at 



