36 Notes and Gleanings. 



The President Wilder Strawberry. — A perusal of your ofi'er, in the 

 June number of " The Journal of Horticulture," to give, in the spring of 1870, six 

 plants of tlie Wilder Strawberry to those who renew their subscriptions by 

 the 1st of January next, and having been a successful cultivator of that delicious 

 fruit, on a small scale, for many years, have induced me to offer your readers some 

 of my thoughts on the subject. 



Every one of your subscribers should renew, without the extra inducement of 

 a gift. I have on my table all the numbers from Jan. i, 1867, and believe no 

 amateur who wishes to adorn a small yard with beautiful flowers, and annually 

 feast upon the choicest fruits, can afford to be without your superior work. Then 

 the plants, which will be worth a year's subscription, may be reckoned a precious 

 gift, from which each should try to obtain an invaluable stock as soon as possible. 



Now, the question to be determined in the mind of each subscriber, is, 

 whether two plants next September will be worth as much as six the following 

 spring. I think not. If I had an abundance of plants, and wished to cultivate 

 them in hills, then would I as soon take September as May. But this seems to 

 be a very different case. Each one will first be interested in the increase of 

 plants, by means of runners. Fruit must be a secondary consideration for one 

 or two years, at least. 



Will strawberry-plants set as many runners, when planted about the first of 

 May, as if the transplanting had been done the September before ? If they will, 

 then the six plants must be worth three times as much as the two ; and I pre- 

 fer taking the six, from which more runners maybe obtained by October, 1870, 

 than any one can get from two plants set in September, 1869. 



To obtain the best results, I would have the soil pulverized the coming fall, 

 and turn it again before planting. No weeds nor spears of grass should be allowed 

 to grow among the plants until the runners begin to root, about the first of July; 

 .after which, both plants and weeds should remain undisturbed. By the first of 

 August, when it is generally very hot and dry, I prefer a thrifty growth of purs- 

 ilain and fox-tail, so that the tender runners can creep along in the shade, and 

 ifind abundant moisture near the surface of the soil for their delicate rootlets. 



No clover, blue-grass, or other perennials, should be permitted on a new 

 strawberry-plant. But any thing which will be killed by the winter, and fall 

 down over the young plants, serves as a good mulch, not liable to be scattered 

 by the winds. I have found hundreds of the later runners well rooted in the 

 spring, under this kind of cover, which showed no sign of roots on the approach 

 of the previous winter. And nothing can serve a better purpose than the haum 

 thus made of winter-killed annuals to keep the ripening fruit free from sand. 

 I would, therefore, advise all, who, like myself, desire a good stock of the Wilder, 

 at the earliest possible date, to renew their subscriptions to your excellent Jour- 

 nal, and accept six plants in the spring of 1870. James Millesan. 



Shelbyville, Ind., June 17, 1S69. 



[We cannot agree with our correspondent in regard to permitting even annual 

 weeds to grow in strawberry-beds. The idea of keeping the ground moist by 

 shading with weeds may look very plausible ; but it is not considered that the 



