388 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 29, 1827. 



secure the ends botwcen the stalks ; by which 

 simple msthod, the plant will be supported in an 

 erect situation, and the fruit be preserved from 

 the ravages of vcraiin, as well as from being soil 

 ed on tue ground : 3. To promote the growth of 

 the berries, the conliguous earth around the stocks 

 ought to lie covered in the spring vviih tanner's 

 waste : or, where this cannot be easily procured, 

 with oyater-shells : thus, all weeds will be effec- 

 tually suppressed, and an uniform beneticial moist- 

 is not relished by cows ; arid is totally refused by lure uiay be ensured. Lastly, when the first rudi- 

 horses and swine. meuts of the fruit appear, the soil ought to be 



The comuion strawberry is the parent stock carefully stirred by the hoe, and then manured 



From mUUh's Domestic Encychped'.a. 



STRAWBERRY, 

 Or Fragaria \yesca\ a genus of plants, ccmpie- 

 hending three species, two of which are indigen- 

 ous ; but the principal is the vcsca, or Comuion 

 Strawberry, growing in woods, hedges, and hol- 

 low ways ; where its flowers appear in the mouth 

 of May or June ; and are succeeded by small red 

 fruit. The plant is eaten by sheep and goats, but 



cipally employed the iljpnuin triquelrum, or T: 

 angular Feather-moss, which grows on damp me 

 dovvs, fields, and liedges : it should, however, , 

 remarked, that Dv Chf.sne, in all h'ln expcrimeut 

 found It necessary to moisten the earth, or m(j 

 several times every day, till the plants appeal 

 above ground. i 



Lastly, M. Mallet has likewise (EiUiuthet 

 PhysKO-Econoinique, for 17SI8) strongly support] 

 this method cf propagating strawberries from 

 seed ; and he observes that they should be cov9| 



from which all the different varieties have been 

 obtained by culture ; the most remarkable of 

 these, are : 



1. The IVood Strawberry, with oblong serrated 

 leaves, and small while, round fruit. — 2. The 

 Grten, or Pine apple Strawberry, which has re- 

 ceived this name from its delicate flavor, resem- 

 bling that of the Pine apple. — 3. The Scarlet or 



with the following composition, that will remarka 

 bly contribute to its fertility. Take three parts 

 of old rotten dung, one part of soot, and a similar 

 portion of dry soap boilers' ashes ; nii\ them tho; - 

 oughly, and spread this compost loosely by the 

 hand, so that the newly moved ground may be au 

 perficiully covered. 

 There is another, and more advantageous, rae- 



rirginian Strawberry, which has also oval serrat- thod of propagating strawberries by the setd : it 

 ed leaves, and bears a roundish berry, of a deep was originally recommended by Do Hamel, anil 

 scarlet colour — 4. The Hauiboy or Mask Straw- ; has been carried to great perfection by Du Ches 



•if*' 



berry, is a native of America, but has long been 

 raised in British gardens ; it is remarkable for its 

 rough spear-sliaped leaves, and its large pale red 

 fruit. — 5. The Chili Strawberry has oval, thick 

 hairy leaves, large floweis, and firm beriies. — 0. 

 The .-ilpine Strawberry, has small oval leaves, 

 diminutive flowers, and oblong pointed fruit, of a 

 moderate size. — 7. The Monthly, or Ever flower- 

 ing Strawberry, originally a French variety, pro- 

 duces very delicate 'ruit, generally pointed to- 

 wards the top, and bulky below ; being in season 

 from May to November ; the plant itself, howev- 

 er, is very small, has diminutive leaves, and fur- 

 nishes but few oS'sets for transplantation 



SE. The seeds, consisting of small, oblong, dark 

 red-broivn grains, should be collected from the 

 surface of the most perfect, ripe berries, which 

 have almost become dry on the stalk ; and be pre- 

 served till the succeeding spring ; when they 

 ought to be uniformly mixed with a little dry 

 mould, and sown in a loose rich garden soil, which 

 is properly worked, and levelled with the rake. 

 Ne.\t, it will be useful to sift finely pulverised 

 earth, or rotten dung, over the beds, to the thick- 

 ness of half-a-crown piece only, and to cover the 

 whole with branches or boughs of fir trees. In 

 the course of three weeks, the young plants will 

 appear, when tlie cohering ought to be removed 



All the varieti?s of this vegetable are hardy, and the branches set upright along the borders of 



perennial plants, wliich flower in May and June 

 producing perfect fruit in June, July, August and 

 even till November. They may be propagated by 

 planting off sets, or suckers, in any light, rich gar 

 Jen-soil, where they annually yield abundant 

 crops, if properly weeded, and supplied with 

 moisture. Tiieir fertility, however, will be con- 

 siderably increased, by transplanting them every 

 second year into fresh beds, that Jiave previously 

 been dug, or otherwise prepared for their recep- 

 tion. 



A pine-board laid between the beds of Straw- 

 berries, prevents the grov/th of weeds : tan, 

 strewed on the walks, has the same effect. The 

 Strawberry lives only four years. In making a 

 new bed, care should be taken to avoid putting 

 out any black roots, as all such have lost their 

 vegetative pow.'r. 



As the strawberry is one of the most exhausting 

 pl'nts, and requires ample nourishment, all weeds 

 growing in its vicinity should be carefully remov- 

 ed. Hence it »vill be found, that the earth, in 

 which an old stock has grown undisturbed for 

 several years, on diirging up its roots, in a man- 

 ner resembles wood ashes : because it is depriv- 

 ed of all the soluble parts. 



Without entering into a niiriute account of the 

 culture of this useful plant, we shall briefly re- 

 mark, 1. That the most proper season for trans 

 planting strawberries, is in the month of August ; 

 when they will have sutficient time to take root 

 before the winter: 9. That it is not advisable 

 either to clip or break off the superfluous shoots, 

 but to wind them round the principal stem, and 



the beds, in order to shelter the tender sprouts 

 from the influence of the meridian sun. Others 

 sow the strawberry-seed in August, and protect 

 the young germs with mats suspended over the 

 beds, by means of poles. The plants, thus raised, 

 ought to be carefully weeded and watered : those 

 reared in the spring, may be transplanted in the 

 autumn of the same year ; but, when sown in the 

 latter season, tney must remain in the seed bed 

 till ihe following summer. This mode of cultiva- 

 ting strawberries possesses many advantages over 

 the usual practice : thus, it will be easy to obtain 

 the inost delicate foreign sorts, of which it would 

 otherwise be difficult to procure off-sets ; nay, by 

 sowing the seed of degenerated sorts, together 

 witli those of superior fruit, many new and excel- 

 lent varieties will result from such combination. 



Dc Chesne has made the following curious e.v- 

 pe'iments, on the propagation of strawberries 

 from tneir seeds : He directed the water in which 

 this fruit had been washed, before it was used at 

 table, to be thrown in a shaded corner of his gar- 

 den, where the soil had been manured with rot- 

 ten branches and leaves : in this manner, he ob- 

 tained '-ery beautiful plants for an extensive piece 

 of ground. On covering the beds, over which 

 such seed had been scattered, with connected 

 pieces of the moss growing on trees, and remov- 

 ing the latte.-, when the plants had acquired 2 or 



eiily 



if* 



el, »' 



|l((01li»'' 



jpliiiei 



islspMi 



ed with straw, or light branches of trees, and bb 

 gularly watered two or three times in 24 hou^ 

 to ensure a plentiful crop : the covering ought 

 be re(noved only after ^the plants have dcquir^i 

 ihu fourth leaf; and the irri_;ation should be coi 

 tinued till the latter end of June. He conclu 

 with remarking, tliat slravvberries thus' raised 

 e.\tremely productive ; and, if planted on bi 

 Jive feet wide, are greatly superior to those proi 

 ced from offsets, or suckers, 



In situations, liowever, where early strawbi 

 ries are an object of attention. Dr. Andkrson 

 reels them to be planted in pots which may be 

 raPL^ed in flat pans made of milled iron; and thel 

 again p aced on a wooden fratne,sii!Bciently stroo] 

 to support their weight. From each corner 

 such frame, a rope is to be passed upward 

 a pally fixed to the rafters of a iiot-house, col 

 st iicted i>c;ording to his plan, whence the rojK 

 may be drawn hori'.ontally to other puUies fix 

 in a similar manner, and to be carried from thei 

 over a cylinder turning upon an axis ; so that th^ij isot 

 whole of the frame, together with the pots and I 

 pans, may be elevated, or lowered, at pleasure.— 

 Thus the pots may be raised till they are broughl 

 closely under the glass of the ceiling : whichj-be-jr- iitn 

 ing the warmest part of the building, will causi 

 the plants to vegetate with tho greatest iuxuri.«ji 

 ance. He farther observes, that the pots may bi 

 supplied with water, by pouring it into the pansj 

 without lowering them ; and as the berries gradu. 

 ally ripen, they may he gathered, and the framei 

 again suspended. 



[To preserve Strau-herry Plants from the heat oj 

 the Sun, &.c. — Sir Joseph Banks, from a variety 

 of experiments, and the experience of many years, 

 recommends a general reviral of the now almost 

 obsolete practice- of laying straw under strawber- 

 ry plants, when the fruit begins to swell ; by 

 which means the roots are shaded from the sun, 

 the waste of moiiture by evaporation prevented, 

 the leaning fruit kept from damage, by resting on 

 the ground, particularly in wet weather, and 

 much labour in watering saved. Twenty trusses 

 of long straw are sufiicient for 1800 feet of plants. 



T. C.]' 

 Directions for lyianaging Slrdwberries in Sum- 

 mer. — On the management of strawberries in 

 June and July, the future prosperity of them 

 greatly depends ; and if each plant has not been 

 kept separate, by cutting off the runners, they 

 will be in a state of confusion, and you will find 

 three different sorts of plants 



1. Old plants, whose roots are turned black, 

 hard, and woody. 



2. Young plants, not strong enough to flower. 



3. Flowering plants, which ought only to be 



3 leaves, he obtained excellent crops. In March, i there, and perhaps not many of them. 

 I7(i4, strawberry-seeds were scattered on patches Before the time of flowering is quite over, ex- 

 of moss I'Gaicau.r rfe mousse), in pots placefl un amine them, and pull up every old plant which 

 der the windows of a hot-bed : these afforded the ; has not flowered ; for, if once they have omitted 

 most vigorous plants. For such purpose, he prin-jto flower, you may depend upon it they will never 



