80 THE STRAWBERRY CITLTURIST. 



bacco liquor will eradicate the aphis, and flour of sulphur scattered 

 freely among the plants will kill the red spider. 



In open-ground culture, slugs, snails, and wire- worms are sometimes 

 troublesome ; but they may be readily destroyed by dusting the plants 

 and entire surface of the soil with fresh slacked lime. When the 

 ground is kept mulched, the wire-worms find a safe retreat under it, 

 and free use of lime is often necessary to destroy them. 



Ants are sometimes troublesome when the fruit is ripening, and 

 their nests should be found and treated with a dose of hot water or 

 guano. The grub, or cut- worm, as it is called, is very destructive in 

 some sections of the country. They eat off the roots close to the 

 crown, and the plant soon turns yellow and dies. The only sure way 

 that I have ever found of eradicating them is to dig up the plant so 

 soon as the leaves begin to turn yellow, and kill the grub, which you 

 will invariably find under the plant if you dig in time. It is also 

 well to examine the soil carefully when preparing the beds, and de- 

 stroy all that are found. Mice will sometimes attack the plants that 

 are in the frames, but pussy or the trap will soon take care of these. 



RETARDING RIPENING. 



To retard the ripening of the strawberry is often as desirable as t 

 force or produce fruit early, or out of its natural season. When grown 

 in pots it is a very simple process, all that is required to produce a lat. 

 crop being to place the plants hi a cool northern exposure early in tht 

 season, or before they commence growth, and keep them there so long 

 as the health of the plant does not suffer for want of light and air. 

 The north side of a wall, or in frames, with the sash having an incli- 

 nation to the north, will answer the purpose for retarding the fruit. 



For late crops, it is always best to choose the very latest varieties- 

 Austin, Triomphe de Gand, and Trollop's Victoria are excellent 

 varieties for this purpose. Too sudden transition from cold to heat 

 should be guarded against, for the embryo fruit buds are formed 

 within the plants months previous to this development, and they re- 

 quire time and a steady increase of temperature, for naturally the 

 strawberry requires about three months to develop and bring its fruit 

 to maturity ; and though we may hasten the time somewhat, we can 



