74 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



April, 



quart and one-fovirth per square rod. As 

 for seed, the following is a superior and inex- 

 pensive "mixture:" 3 parts June or Blue 

 Grass (Poa pratensis) to 1 part Red Top or 

 Bent Grass (Agrostis). Sow evenly, this may 

 best be done by double sowing. By this 



JTig. 1. A Perfect Strawbeti'y Flowct\ 

 somewhat enlarged, with both PL'^tils 

 {A^ and Stametis (B) present. 



Fig. 2. The Sliarj)less Strawberry. 



the seed needed for 

 sowing 



we mean, to divide 

 a given area into two equal lots 

 one-half of it over the plat walking back 

 and forth across it one way, and then the 

 remainder by walking crosswise of the first 

 sowing. After this rake the entire surface 

 lightly, then roll. 



Mowing must commence with the first 

 sight of any growth high enough to cut, be 

 it grass or weeds (these will be present and 

 perhaps ahead of the grass), and this must 

 be kept up regularly tliro\igh the season. 

 To pass over the lawn with the mower once 

 in each week, in growing weather, will not 

 be too often; in dry weather something less 

 than this will answer. 



With the work of sowing done before the 

 middle of this month, by the course pre- 

 scribed above, there will usually be a per- 

 fect mass of 

 grass by mid- 

 summer. In 

 rare cases there 

 may come just 

 enough unfavor- 

 able weather, 

 after seeding, to 

 cause a mis- 

 carriage of one's 

 plan. No one 

 should be dis- 

 couraged hy this 

 from trj'iug the 

 seeding over 

 again. One of the best lawns the writer ever 

 made was sown on the 6th day of June, but 

 as a rule there is far more risk in such late 

 sowings than in earlier ones. 



Pig. Z.— Rightly planted, wiilt 

 all the roots properly spread, 

 out. 



Have a Plenty of Strawberries. 



Not every tiller of the soil has Strawber- 

 ries in abundance, who might have. 



It cannot be because the plants are costly 

 to buy, or difficult to grow; good plants can 

 be had for less than a cent apiece, by the 

 hundred, and at much less by the thousand, 

 while no useful plant is easier to succeed 

 with in culture. 



It can hardly be because the fruit is not 

 appreciated when it is grown. We know 

 human nature too well for that. We have 

 a distinct recollection that when our own 

 ample-sized bed has been loaded with ripe, 

 blushing fruit in the June time of past years, 

 no visitors at our house Lave been known in 

 a single instance, we think, to need a second 



which, like the Wilson, -bear perfect flowers. 

 See figure 1. Some varieties that are grown 

 are without stamens (B. in Fig.l), needing the 

 near presence of others with perfect flowers, 

 in order to bear. The catalogues usually 

 designate the former as " Pi.stillate " or 

 by the letter "P." signifying that they have 

 only the pistil organs of reproduction. For 

 a small additional list of varieties bearing 

 perfect flowers, we would mention Sharp- 

 less, shown in figure 2, Charles Downing, 

 and for late, the Kentucky. 



Two S3'stems of planting the Strawberry 

 prevail, the matted, or easj' system, allowing 

 the plants to throw out runners, and the 

 hill-culture, or careful system, in which 

 all runners are kept cut. It is well to try 

 both. For the former, set the plants in 

 rows, three feet apart, and a foot apart in 

 the row. In hill-culture, plant at fifteen 

 by fifteen inches apart, the rows extending 

 across the bed, and then skipping every 

 fourth row to provide pathways. 



The operation of planting is a simple one, 

 and yet it is often badl}' done. Figures 3 to 

 6 inclusive, impart a lesson as to how, bet- 

 ter than we can do with the pen. A garden 

 trowel is a very convenient tool for the pur- 

 pose. We will only add that the soil .should 

 be pressed very firmly about the roots. After 

 planting, practice scrupulously clean culture. 



invitation to walk over to it and partake. 

 Then when the same persons have been in- 

 vited to sit up to Strawberries smothered in 

 cream and pulverized sugar added, at tea 

 time, we cannot recall now that such a thing 

 as a "regret" that they could not po.s.sibly 



accept, has ever 



been offered. It is 



a verj' old saying. 



that the proof of the 



pudding is found in 



the eating. 

 It cannot be that 



people who have 



land to till, are with 



out plenty of Straw- 



berries for the 



excuse so often 



heard against plant- 



ing fruit trees, 



namely: we must 



wait a lifetime for 



the fruit. Plant 



Strawberries this 

 year, and next year brings a full crop. No 

 other fruit will do so well as this. Even ten- 

 ants with a two year's lease, can, if there is land 

 to spare, have bushels 'of fruit before they 

 quit the place. For such to plant Currants, 

 Cherries or Apples would be foolishness; to 

 plant Strawberries the part of wisdom. 



The charge, if made, that the Strawberry 

 comes at an unseasonable time, or when 

 other fruits are plentiful, would not stand. 

 With the Cherry alone it oilers itself as the 

 first fruit of the summer. It comes at a time 

 (June and July) when the .sj-stem is much 

 benefited bj' partaking freely of a fresh 

 fruit diet. It is also a most wholesome fruit, 

 being easily digested. Unlike most other 

 fruits, it does not grow acid by fermentation. 

 Let us, too, not forget, that the great Lin- 

 naeus attributed the cure of his gout to the 

 free use of Strawberries as food. 



The absence of anything short of the uni- 

 versal culture of the Strawberry by land 

 holders, can only be accounted for on the 

 ground of neglect to plant. The common 

 time for setting the plants is in the busy spring 

 season, and in the crowd of work, this job 

 is too often shoved by. It shoidd not be so. 

 We should take into account all the advan- 

 tages of having an abundance of this fruit 

 for next year and later, and then should set 

 ourselves rigidly about to planting a patch — 

 and a big one, at that. 



And this is how to go about it: Select a 

 spot of fertile soil, not less than two square 

 rods in size, for a small family, and from 

 that up. It should be in a sunny exposure. 

 The deeper and richer the soil is, (of course 

 there is a reasonable limit in this), the larger 

 will be the berries. 



Procure plants 

 from a reliable 

 nursery or from 

 some grower of 

 the fruit. As to 

 kinds, let us cau- 

 tion the novice 

 (others will not 

 need such advice) 

 to procure only 



well tried sorts. Fig. 4. A young plant set «" \i~' ' \ Fig. 6. Planted with roots 



The catalogue ^ot deep enough. Fig. .5. One set too deep.' all in a mass. 



statements not- how not to plant strav^'berries,. (or anything else.) 



withstanding, we still insist that take our , the true taste of the Wilde-man, to see the 

 country over, the old Wilson variety would development of these earth-suns. The seeds 



Sunflowers and Sun-Worshippers. 



The people of civilization are not alone 

 in their appreciation of the long unrecog- 

 nized charms of the Sunflower, It comes 

 to us, on good authority, that now this same 

 blossom of conspicuous brown centre and 

 halo of yellow raj's, has become a much 

 adored favorite with the aborigines of New 

 South Wales. The facts seem to be, that 

 these people, who are worshippers of the sun, 

 find in our large American Sunflower, a 

 blossom which they accept as a gift from 

 their god, to whose worship they conseci'ate it. 



We are quite ready to believe the report 

 that this is the only flower ever introduced 

 into that land, from the world outside, which 

 the natives have shown a liking for. They, 

 as a people, are not given to floriculture, for 

 its own sake, yet they worship this flower 

 more truly than it would seem possible for 

 any aesthetic lass or swain of civilized lands 

 to do. The Virgins of the Sun, it is said, 

 when officiating in the ceremony of the tem- 

 ples, are crowned with the huge flowers, 

 bearing many in their hands as well. Some 

 are worn also at the breast — the corsage- 

 bouquet idea having perhaps reached them. 



It is. further stated by travelers, that the 

 natives procure the seed, plant them in 

 IMtches about their huts, and delight with 



give the best satisfaction to three out of every 

 four inexperienced growers. Another point 

 for the inexperienced; Choose only sorts 



are looked upon as being almost sacred. 

 They are carefully gathered and put away 

 in bags each year — not for hen-feed, as we 



