APPENDIX. 117 



found to bloom and fruit together the whole season 

 are the Hovey Seedling and Large Early Scarlet. 

 Eoss Phoenix, Burr's New Pine, and a seedling of my 

 own, not yet fully tested, I have also caused to bear 

 continuously. I plant seven rows of the pistillate, and 

 one row of the hermaphrodite, two feet apart each 

 way. The first season I let the runners fill the ground ; 

 in the fall, go through the grounds with hoes, thinning 

 out to eight or ten inches, leaving the vines to decay 

 just where they are cut up. I then cover the whole 

 bed with partially decomposed leaves from the woods 

 or swamps. The winter rains beat down the leaves, 

 the fruit-germ finds its way through them, and the first 

 mild weather of spring the blossoms appear. 



I have before spoken of the volatile nature of the 

 pollen. In very dry weather the particles float off on 

 the winds, and much is lost to the buds below ; hence 

 the importance of watering freely when in bloom. 

 Free applications of water will set the whole bed with 

 fruit, which will require continuous watering to swell 

 and ripen it. A strawberry bed may be moist, the 

 "plants in fine condition, and yet one good shower Avill 

 make a difference of one-third in the quantity of fruit 

 picked the day after. Consequently, in dry seasons, 

 artificial watering must be resorted to, and no labor 

 will pay better 



I never use animal manure of any kind — ^nothing 



