STRAWBERRIES. 189 



They should not be allowed to bear the following 

 season. A late-set plant cannot before winter in 

 our climate become strong and sturdy enough to 

 produce much fruit the following season. I make 

 it a rule not to permit plants set out after the first 

 of October to bear fruit until a year from the fol- 

 lowing June. 



In setting out plants, the principle of sex should 

 be remembered. The majority of our favorite 

 varieties are bisexual ; that is, the blossoms are fur- 

 nished with both stamens and pistils. A variety 

 with this organization, as the Sharpless, for instance, 

 will bear alone with no other kind near it. But if 

 one set out a bed of Champions another fine va- 

 riety well apart from any staminate kind, it would 

 blossom profusely, but produce no fruit. When I 

 was a boy, Hovey's Seedling was the great straw- 

 berry of the day, and marvellous stories were told 

 of the productiveness of the plants and the size of 

 the berries. How well I remember the disappoint- 

 ment and wrath of people who bought the plants 

 at a high price, and set them out with no staminate 

 varieties near to fertilize the pistillate blossoms ! 

 Expectations were raised to the highest pitch by 

 profuse blossoming in May, but not a berry could 

 be found the ensuing June. The vigorous plants 

 were only a mockery, and the people who sold 

 them were berated as humbugs. To-day the most 



