The Strawberry. 23 



THE STRAWBERRY. 



BY R. G. PARDEE. 



This is the earliest, and one of our most delicious and wholesome fruits. 

 It is also so easily cultivated as to be clearly within the reach of all hav- 

 ing a few yards of soil — twenty feet square being all that is required to 

 furnish a small family with an abundance. Why then, we are asked are 

 they not more generally cultivated, and more efforts made to obtain the 

 most approved varieties l "We answer, the main reason is, that so mucli 

 that is erroneous has been published, and the resuU has been sonuraerouB 

 failures, that multitudes have given up in despair, and declared it to be 

 cheaper to buv than to raise this fine fruit. This result too, has been, 

 reached when the fact remains, that strawberries of fine varieties have been 

 and can be easily raised for fifty cents per bushel, besides the pleasure or 

 labor of picking them. If this be so, and we do not doubt it, then it is 

 apparent that three-fourths of all tlie labor and expense bestowed on 

 strawberry cultivation is lost and worse than lost. 



Let us notice some of the errors which have led to such disastrous re- 

 sults, and, 1st. "We are told to fill the bed in the order of four rows of 

 Pistillate? and then one of Staminates. The consequence of this putting 

 starainates and pistallates in the same bed, has been, the strong growing 

 small bearing, rampant staminates, crowd the full bearing, feeble pistil- 

 lates out of the bed, so that after one season of tolerable productiveness, 

 it proves a failure. It is generally conceded to be necessary to place the 

 staminate varieties contiguous to the pistallates, but we would place them 

 on opposite sides of the garden, as thirty or fifty feet apart for all practi- 

 cal purposes is as well as three feet. Where all the runners are pertina- 

 ciously cut off, there is no evil resulting from allowing different varieties 

 in the same bed, but this labor is so great we would never attempt it, and 

 consequently be very careful to keep each variety distinct and separate 

 from all others. 2d. We are told to prepare the beds with an abundance 

 of well-rotted manures. This will produce very strong and vigorous 

 plants, but we have often seen those beautiful plants in beds of sufficient 

 size to produce five bushels of fruit, not yield even one quart during the 

 entire season. The plant has been so high fed, so over stimulated, as to 

 induce barrenness. On the other hand we have often been surprised at 

 the large crop of luscious Ilovey's and scarlets on soil so poor as hardly 

 to raise corn. In one instance the hard pan from the bottom of a cellar, 



