XIV. 



STRAWBERRIES 



PERHAPS no fruit has been more written 

 about than the strawberry. Its popularity 

 increases constantly, because those who have 

 gardens find on trial that they can grow it 

 very satisfactorily, if not to perfection. 



Nearly every amateur who begins straw- 

 berry cultivation feels in duty bound to "read 

 up" about it before making a start, and so 

 voluminous is our literature along this line 

 that after he has read several "Books on the 

 Strawberry" he is more at a loss as to what to 

 do than he was before he began his investiga- 

 tions, because almost every author advises 

 his own particular method as the method par 

 excellence, and the beginner does not consider 

 himself competent to decide between those 

 who set themselves up as authority. This is 

 not to be wondered at, for growers and writers 

 differ greatly about some features of straw- 

 berry growing. This difference, I am inclined 



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