108 



THE CA..VADIAN HORTlCCLTtJRIST. 



1880 — Received the Hybrid Rasp- 

 berry Black Cap (Saunders'). It has 

 done well, bearing some fine crops of 

 large berries ; productive. 



1881 — Received the Brighton Grape 

 in good condition ; rather slow in 

 growing ; commenced to bear this last 

 summer ; bunches small, fruit sweet ; 

 rather late in ripening. 



1882 — Mooi-e's Early received in 

 good order ; grows slow ; not fruited 

 yet. 



1883 — Received the Worden Grape ; 

 was killed with the frost. The Jessica, 

 received at the same time, stood the 

 frost much better than the Worden ; 

 last summer the Jessica made a very 

 fair growth ; I think it will stand bet- 

 ter another year. 



1884— Received Prentiss Grape in 

 good condition ; made a medium length 

 of vine ; think it will do well. 

 Yours truly, 



Charles Hickling. 

 Barrie, March, 1885. 



METHODS OF STRAWBERRY CUL- 

 TURE. 



BY T. C. ROBINSOK, OWES SOUND. 



fFor the Canadian Horticulturist. j 



There are two " systems" in common 

 practice of growing this delicious small 

 fruit. The " Matted Row" is the one 

 by which most strawberries are grown 

 that are oflfered for sale in the fruit 

 stores of our cities and towns. The 

 plants are set out about a foot apart in 

 rows three to four feet apart and al- 

 lowed to make runners freely the first 

 year; the second year the old and young 

 plants fruit promiscuously, and all are 

 ploughed down after the crop is gath- 

 ered — or, perhaps, if weeds are not too 

 numerous and strong, the plantation is 

 allowed to remain a year longer to ftear 

 a second crop. The advantages of this 

 plan are easily seen and easily ob- 

 tained — almost no care is needed after 

 planting, except to keep the cultivator 



running (always in the same direction, 

 so as to throw the runners all the same 

 way) in the fast-narrowing spaces be- 

 tween the rows : the young plants with 

 interlacing roots protect one another 

 on most soils from heaving in winter ; 

 and if the white grub attacks the roots 

 its ravages are not much noticed among 

 so many plants. 



Certain modifications of the Matted 

 Row are practised by more careful grow- 

 ei'S. One man keeps the first runners 

 ofi" the young plants, thereby inducing 

 stronger after-runners, and more of 

 them. Another observant horticultur- 

 ist sets the plants with the main old 

 runner of each pointing towards the 

 same side in order that the new run- 

 ners to form plants may all start out on 

 the other side of the row — it being the 

 fact that young plants always send out 

 runners in the opposite dii-ection from 

 the parent [)lant. A third grower care- 

 fully "layers" the first runners at uni- 

 form distances to keep his beds from 

 becoming crowded in spots. But the 

 one feature of letting the runners grow 

 and form more plants is characteristic 

 of this system however modified. 



But the disadvantages are equally 

 marked — the plants, crowded together, 

 as they are sure to be on good soil in a 

 fair season, demand far more moisture 

 for proper growth of foliage and de- 

 velopment of fruit than is contained by 

 any soil in an ordinary season : then 

 the rows invariably contain a large num- 

 ber of plants formed too late in the fall 

 to form fruit buds — and therefoi-e un- 

 productive, and as useless as weeds ; 

 lastly, the ever-watchful weed-pests 

 soon find safe refuge among the rooting 

 I'unner tips out of reach of the culti- 

 vator, so that unless the soil is very 

 " clean" each row becomes about berry 

 time a regular Weeds' Paradise, which 

 no large gTOwer can afford to greatly 

 meddle with. The net result of these 

 three drawbacks is found in a crop 



