No. 4.] SMALL FRUITS. 229 



If the cover or mulch is put on too early in the fall or too 

 deeply, the plants will often be injured by heating, and for 

 this reason the application is delayed until the ground is 

 somewhat frozen. If the ground were covered with snow 

 from December to April, little or no covering would be 

 needed, but this is not often the case. Only a thin covering 

 should be applied, just enough to shade the ground and pre- 

 vent alternate freezing and thawing when there is no snow 

 on the ground. When growth begins, the mulch may be re- 

 moved, the land carefully cultivated until the fruit begins to 

 approach maturity, when the mulch is put back to protect 

 the fruit from the soil, or, as is the most common practice, 

 left on the ground, and Avhen 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. 



Gathering the Fruit. 



For home use the fruit should be allowed to become thor- 

 oughly ripe before picking, and the bed should be picked 

 over every day. Even for the 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 securing the 

 local market to the grower would solve itself, if only per- 

 fectly fresh ripe fruit were ofiered to the consumers. 



Best Varieties. 



The varieties of strawberries may be divided into two 

 groups, i.e., "pistillate," those with pistillate flow^ers 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 

 liave been introduced within the past ten years scarcely a 



