1736 



STRAWBERRY 



STRAWBERRY 



metis that they are practically pistillate or sterile. Any 

 variety will fertilize any other variety if it bears suffi- 

 cient pollen and if the two kinds bloom at the same time. 

 When planting pistillate varieties, every third row 



2416. Pot-grown Strawberry plant. 



should be a pollen-bearing kind. The horticultural 

 bearing of the sexual characters of the Strawberry 

 flower seems to have been first clearly explained in this 

 Country by Nicholas Longworth, of Cincinnati (see 

 Longworth; also his essay on the subject in his "Culti- 

 vation of the Grape," 1846, and the "Straw- 

 berry Report "of the Cincinnati Horticultural 

 Society, 1848). When many of the akenes or 

 "seeds" of the Strawberry are not fertilized 

 or are killed by frost or other means, the berry 

 fails to develop at that point and a "nubbin," 

 or imperfect berry, is the result. Fig. 2419. 

 Nubbins are usually most abundant late in the 

 fruiting season, when the pollen supply is 

 small and when the plants are relatively ex- 

 hausted. 



The cost of growing an acre of Strawber- 

 ries under commercial conditions in Oswego 

 county, New York (which is one of the lead- 

 ing Strawberry centers of the North) is ap- 

 proximately as follows : 



Rent of land, two years $11 00 



Plowing and fitting 6 00 



Plants 15 00 



Setting plants 4 00 



Cultivation 16 00 



Straw for winter and fruiting mulch 15 00 



Labor hoeing, pulling weeds, etc 10 00 



New varieties of Strawberries are raised from seed 

 with the greatest ease. The generations of Strawberries 

 are short and new varieties soon find favor. The varie- 

 ties change so frequently in popular estimation that it is 

 impracticable to recommend a list of them in a work like 

 this. The first great American berry was the Hovey 

 (Fig. 1088, Vol. II). Perhaps the most popular single 

 variety has been the Wilson (Fig. 2420), now practically 

 extinct. The accompanying pictures (Figs. 2421-2425) 

 show types of American Strawberries. 



The common garden Strawberries are the progeny of 

 Fragaria Chiloensis, native to the Pacific coast of 

 America, and first introduced to cultivation from Chile 

 nearly 200 years ago. See Fragaria. In Europe the 

 Alpine and Hautbois types of Strawberries (F. vesca 

 and F. moschata) are highly prized as dessert fruits. 

 These are sometimes grown in this country by amateurs, 

 but they are unknown to commercial Strawberry cul- 

 ture. The native Fragaria Virginiana, everywhere 

 common in fields in eastern North America, gives little 

 promise under cultivation. It usually runs strongly to 

 vine, at the expense of fruit-bearing. 



There are several serious fungous diseases and insect 

 pests of the Strawberry. The fundamental treatment 

 for all these is to fruit the bed but once, or at most but 

 twice, and to grow succeeding crops on other land, 

 cleaning up the old plantation thoroughly after the last 

 fruiting. Short, quick and sharp rotations and clean 

 culture do much to keep all enemies in check. Most of 

 the fungous enemies are kept in check with relative 

 ease by spraying with Bordeaux mixture. Fig. 2426. 



The American book writings on the Strawberry are: 

 R. G. Pardee, "A Complete Manual of the Cultivation of 



2418. Sexes of Strawberry flowers. 



At the left, a perfect flower; at the right, a pistillate flower (lacking 

 stamens) ; in the middle, stamens few. 



Total cost $77 00 



Many growers raise berries at a much less cost, and a 

 few exceed this sum especially when located near a 

 large town where rents are high ; but it would be safe 

 for one about to engage in Strawberry-growing to figure 

 close to this total, aside from the cost of fertilizer. 



3417. Heavy mulching of Strawberry plants, as practiced in 

 parts of the North. 



the Strawberry," New York, 1854, and subsequent edi- 

 tions; A. S. Fuller, "The Illustrated Strawberry Cul- 

 turist," New York, 1862, and subsequent editions; J. M. 

 Merrick, Jr., "The Strawberry and its Culture," Boston, 

 1870; Charles Barnard, "The Strawberry Garden, "Bos- 

 ton, 1871; T. B. Terry and A. I. Root, "How to Grow 

 Strawberries," Medina, Ohio, 1890; L. J. Farmer, 

 "Farmer on the Strawberry," Pulaski, N. Y., 1891. 

 Aside from these writings, the Strawberry is well 

 treated in various books devoted to small fruits and to 

 fruit in general. , jj_ g 



Culture of Strawberries. [The following article 

 was written for the Editor some ten years ago by the 

 late J. M. Smith, Green Bay, Wis., long known as one 

 of the most expert Strawberry-growers. It has never 

 been published. Mr. Smith was born at Morristown, 

 N. J., Jan. 13, 1820, and died at Green Bay, Feb. 20, 

 1894. -L. H. B.] 



The Strawberry will grow and thrive in all parts of 

 the United States where any fruit will grow, and yet, 

 strange as it may seem to young readers, fifty years 

 ago it was scarcely known except as a wild fruit. The 

 writer has no recollection of ever seeing more than one 

 small bed of Strawberries cultivated before he was 25 

 years old. In boyhood he often accompanied his father 



