268 



THE GENESEE FARMER 



August 27, 1831: 



SELtiCTIONe 



From Lou. lu. . ii > oporiia if Gardening. 



STRAWBERRIES. 



i 'oulioued Irom page 26- 



Modes of propagation- — "The plants 

 multiply spontaneously every summer, as 

 ■well by suckers from the parent stem as by 

 the numerous runners ; all of which, root- 

 ing and forming a planl at every joint, re- 

 quire only removal to a bed where there is 

 room for 'hem to flourish. Each of these 

 separatelv planted bears a fine fruit the fol- 

 lowing season, and will bear in lull perfec- 

 tion the second summer. A plantation of 

 the alpine yields fruit the same year that it 

 is made. The woods and the alpine come 

 regular from seed, and bring a finer fruit 

 than from offsets. The other species are 

 uniformly pi opagated by offsets, except the 

 intention be to try for new varieties." — 

 Knight, in making experiments, with a view 

 of ascertaining whether most of the sorts 

 ■would not breed together indiscriminately, 

 raised above four hundred varieties, "some 

 very bad, but the greater part tolerably good. 

 and" a few very excellent." The fi uit nl a- 

 bove a dozen sorts was senl to thehorticui 



in beds containing three or four rows, and 

 the plants, in each row, at aceitain distance 

 from each other, leaving an alley between 

 each bed, the distance of the rows and the 

 plants in the rows, as well as the width of 

 i lie alleys, depending on the kind of straw- 

 berry planted. The width of the alleys, as 

 it will afterwards he stated, may appear con- 

 siderable; but lam satisfied, that allowing 

 this spaceforthe orkmen to stand on, when 

 Ithey water the plants, or gather the fruit, is 

 beneficial, because 1 have observed in other 

 persons' grounds, where less space is allot- 

 ted lor this purpose, that great damage is 

 done to the plants and fruit by the tramp 

 ling of the people." 



General culture. — " After the beds are 

 planted, 1 always keep them as clear of 

 weeds as possible, and on no account allow 

 any crop to be planted between the row s. — 

 Upon the growing of the runners, 1 have 

 them cut when necessary: this is usually: 

 three times in each season. In autumn 1 

 always have the rows dug between ; for 1 

 find it refreshes the plants materially : and 

 I recommend to those persons to whom it 

 may be convenient, to scatter in the spring, 

 very lightly, s.ome loose straw or long dung, 



unequalled perfection in agriculture exhib 

 ited in various pots of the kingdom. 



During an agi lcultui al excursion into Not 

 folk in foiil. » met with the younger broth- 

 er of the gteat commercial house of Rathbone, 

 learning to be a tanner, at a premium of two 

 hundred pounds a year. This young gen- 

 tleman, like others whom we met with, was 

 obliged to labor in the fields, at stated peri- 

 ods that he might learn his business prac 

 tica.lv, as well as theoretically, two and three 

 years are the periods generally allotted for 

 acquiring the necessary instrn :tion. The 

 following paragraph will serve to show why 

 it is that gardeners from Germany so gener- 

 ally excel in the raising uf vegetables for our 

 mai kets. 



" In Germany it is customary for those 

 who devote themselves to gardening, to 

 serve an apprenticeship of three yeai- 

 royal garden. Aftei that period is comple- 

 ted, they receive an indenture elegantly writ- 

 ten on parchment, with the head garden- 

 ers name, or sign and seal attached." — 

 Cincinnati Adv. 



tural society m August, 1S1B, ami lound ot betwee n the rows . i t serV es to keep the 

 various degiees of excellence. 1 he seeds, nd mois , enricnes lhe strawberry, and 



if sown immediately alter being gathered, j? ormg a c|ean bec| for the trusses f fruit to 



will produce plants which will come into 

 bearing the following year. 



Soil and siie. — Neill says, " Strawberries 



e upon; and tints, by a little extra troub 

 e and cost, a more abundant crop may be 

 . obtained. A short time before the fruit ri- 



The alpine and wood species may be placed 

 in situations rather cool and shady ; perhaps 

 as an edging in the shrubbery. In such pla- 

 ces thev produce their fruit perfectly well, 

 and late in the seasen which is desirable." 



General culture. — The following origin- 

 al and excellent instructions for cultivating 

 the strawberry, are given by Keen, of Isle- 

 worth ; a most successful grower of this fruit. 

 He says, ' I will commence with a general 

 detail of my practice: this may be consid- 

 ered as applicable to all the varieties of ihe 

 strawberry; and afterwards in noticing each 

 kind that 1 cultivate, I will specify such pe- 

 culiarities of treatment as are exclusively 

 applicable to each." 



In preparing the soil for strawberries. — "If 

 it be new, and, as is frequently the case, ve- 

 ry stiff, it should be trenched ; but if the bot- 

 tom spit of soil, as sometimes happens, be 

 of an inferior quality, I then recommended 

 only a simple digging, placing dung at the 

 bottom, underneath the mould so dug ; on 

 the contrary, should the land have been 

 kept in a high state of cultivation, or be 

 good to the full depth, it will be advisable 

 ifor the bottom spit to be brought up to the 

 top, placing the dung between the two spits. 

 The best way to obtain new plants is, by 

 planting out runners in a nursery, for the 

 express purpose, in the previous season ; for 

 it is a very bad plan to supply a new plant- 

 ation from old plants. With respect to the 

 time of planting, I have always found the 

 month of March better than any other. Some- 

 times, when my crops have failed, I have 

 had runners planted in the autumn, for the 

 following year, but these have always dis- 

 appointed my expectation;. 1 plant them 



are generally placed in a compartment "f ' pens . I always cut off the runners, to strength- 

 the garden by themselves, and it should be. gn the |oot; and aftef t))e frujt ig gathered! V 

 one which is freely exposed to sun and air. baye ivha , ftesn runners | lave been madeta- 

 They are sonetimes, however, planted in sin- ken offwith ;i re aping-hook,togetherwith the 

 gle rows, as edgings to borders, and in this, outs ; de , eaves . uomid t he main p]am% a f. 

 way they often produce great crops. A " e, -llter which 4 rake the beds, then hoe them, 

 ther case care must be taken to replant them \ and fake [j)em . lgah) , n the alltlImn un . 

 every fourth or fifth year at the farthest.— | lesg the p i ants appear V ery strong, I have 



some dung dug in between the rows, but T 

 thev are very luxuriant the dung is not re- 

 quired ; for in some rich soils it would cause 

 !the plants to turn nearly all to leaf. 1 also 

 | have to remark, that the dung used for ma- 

 nure should not be too far spent ; fresh 

 dung from the stable door is preferable to 

 spit-dung, which many persons are so fond 

 of. The duration of the bed must be de- 

 termined by the produce of the plants, which 

 varies much according to the different suits ; 

 it also varies with the same sort in different 

 soils, so that the precise time of the renewal 

 of the beds must be regulated by the observ- 

 ation of the gardner, in each particular 

 case." 



; 'n be Ontltitnifd. 



Farming and Gardening. — This is prob- 

 ably the only country where a man is born a 

 fanner or a gardener ; in all other countries 

 itisfu'md as necessary to learn to farm or 

 garden, as it is to make shoes, lay bricks, or 

 follow any other handicraft trade, but in 

 this, not so: the moment a merchant or me- 

 chanic of any description in our cities, finds 

 himself able to quit business, he purchasi s a 

 place in the country and commences farm- 

 ing or gardening, or both, considering hiin- 

 sell completely qualified for the business, 

 and frequently does not discover his mistake 

 until he finds his experiments have ruined 

 him, and he is obliged to return to the 

 counting room or work bench to resuscitate 

 his exhausted finances. In England, the 

 younger branches of the first families in the 

 kingdom are frequently put to 'prentice, 

 with a premium of from one to three hund 

 red pounds sterling per annum, to be taught 

 lhe art of cultivating thv earUi; hence the 



From the Ne* -Engl -nil farmer. 



STOCKS FOR FRUIT TREES, &c. 



Mk.Fessenden — Mthough your •. 

 ble paper has treated verj extensively (and 

 in my opinion very properly upon the sub- 

 ject of raising Fi uit Ti ees, \ et 1 have exam- 

 ined us hies, and likewise several respet 

 writers on horticulture almost in vain, for 

 practical informal ion on the subject id' rais- 

 ing the stocKs propel for the different spe- 

 cies and varieties oi liuits. The reason of 

 tins scarcity of information probably arises 

 in a great degree from lhe fact, that most 

 persons procure ihi ir fruit trees already in- 

 grafted or budded from lire nurseries, 

 tnat the nursery men r/ommonly acquire their 

 knowledge from ( \ ■ ed living cultiva- 

 tors. As however, there are considtrab] 

 conveniences attending the procuring ul 

 trees iiom distant nurseries, and a difficult) 

 of getting vigorous and healthy trees, to say 

 nothing of the expense of purchasing a con- 

 siderable number, which one must do at tin 

 present lime to be certain of obtaining the 

 best kinds, 1 think many persons would pre- 

 fer, (if they could without difficulty ol 

 the requisite information) to raise a part at 

 least, of tbeir fruit trees from the seed and 

 attend personally to the grafting or budding 

 them. 1 do not suppose it is advisabl 

 the great hud > of the community to do this 

 for I think thai the proprietors of the 

 nurseries are doing a very important ser- 

 vice to the country, and deserve, and will 

 continue to receive the patronage of the 

 lie. The Princes, Landreths, Kenricks, 

 Winships, Buel and others, are entitled to 

 much credit for their exertions in introdu- 

 cing and cultivating new species and varie 

 ties of fruits and other vegetables, and we 

 doubtless owe to those exertions in common 

 with the Horticultural Societies the iniin 

 Mil many new kinds, some of which 

 may be justlj I Miniated of national advant 

 age. The .Messrs. Prince especially have 

 : no pains or expense in the collection 

 of the choicest and most unbounded variety 

 of the gifts of Flora and Pomona. But to 

 return to the subject of tins communication. 

 [ should be much gratified, and believe it 

 would be doing an essential service to a por 

 tion of the fruit loving community, ifsonn 

 „\iv well acquainted with the subject, would 

 communicate through the columns of tlu 



Fainter, information concerning the sorts ol 



