130 APPENDIX. 



plant. Several correspondents wlio are well informed 

 on the subject of cultivation, ask us to give them the 

 names of the best perfect-flowering sorts, as they are 

 tired of keeping separate the staminate and pistillate 

 varieties. We have therefore thought it might be 

 well to offer a few hints which will serve as a general 

 answer. 



We will state here, at the )utset, that to cultivate 

 the strawberry successfully, ^ but a simple matter. 

 To grow large, handsome, fire-flavored fruit in abun- 

 dance, it is not necessary to employ a chemist to furnish 

 us with a long list of specifics, nor even to employ a 

 gardener by profession, who can boast of long years of 

 experience. Any one who can manage a crop of corn 

 or potatoes, can, if he will, grow strawberries. We 

 say this much by way of encouragement, because so 

 much has been said in regard to various methods of 

 culture, and various applications and specifics, that 

 some people have become persuaded that a vast deal of 

 learning and experience is necessary to produce large 

 crops of strawberries. 



Judging from what we have seen, we believe that 

 the great cause of failure is negligence. The straw- 

 berry plant — not like a tree, which when once set in 

 its place, remains there — is constantly sending out 

 shoots (runners) in all directions, taking possession of 

 the ground rapidly around the parent plant. In a 



