33. 



ground, and when the plants begin to grow, drawn away from 

 the crown. The quantity and quality of the fruit are undoubtedly 

 improved by the former method, but it is doubtful if it is more 

 profitable. 



Gatliering the Fruit. 



For home use the fruit should be allowed to become thoroughly 

 ripe before picking, and the bed should be picked over every day. 

 Even for market the fruit can be allowed to become fully ripe, if 

 it is carefully picked in the cool of the day, and is kept in a cool, 

 dry place until it reaches the customers ; and the problem of secur- 

 ing the local market to the local grower would solve itself, if only 

 perfectly fresh ripe fruit were offered to the consumers. 



Best Varieties. 



The varieties of strawberries may be divided into two groups, 

 i. «., " pistillate," those with pistillate flowers only, and " perfect," 

 those having flowers with both stamens and pistils. The pistillate 

 flowered varieties generally are more productive than those with 

 perfect flowers ; but, if the former are planted alone, no fruit will 

 be produced, therefore some staminate or perfect-flowered varieties 

 must be planted near them. The proportion of the two kinds 

 that are generally planted is about three rows of the pistillate to 

 one of the perfect-flowered kinds. Of the thousands of varieties 

 that have been introduced within the past ten years scarcely a 

 half dozen have proved superior in all particulars to the old 

 standard sorts, yet there has been considerable progress as to 

 quality and size of berry. Some varieties succeed in one locality 

 and not in another, and some on one kind of soil and not on 

 another, so that it is very difficult to give a list of varieties that 

 will succeed under all conditions. The best way for one to decide 

 as to the best kinds to grow in a given locality is to consult suc- 

 cessful growers in his own immediate vicinity. The list suggested 

 that will probably give the best results under a great variety of 

 conditions is as follows: Bubach (pistillate), Haverland (pistil- 

 late), Lovett (staminate), Leader (staminate), Clyde (staminate), 

 Brandywine (staminate) and Parker Earle (staminate). 



Annual Cropping. 



It has now become the practice among the best growers to grow 

 but one crop from a planting. The advantage of this is that it is 

 easier to grow plants set in the spring up to fruiting, than to renew 

 an old bed, the fruit is much finer and more of it, and a second 



