334 SCIENCE AND FRUIT GROWING 



BEHAVIOUR OF DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF STRAWBERRIES 

 (Reports, I, 121 ; II, 35) 



Experiments on the behaviour of different varieties of straw- 

 berries were carried out between 1895 and 1899. Eighty-six 

 varieties were represented, thirteen plants of each having been 

 planted every year, so that by 1899 each variety was repre- 

 sented by plants of five different ages. As a standard of com- 

 parison, the crops of the two-year-old plants were taken as 100. 



As regards the magnitude of the crops from plants of all ages, 

 the results during the four chief years of bearing arranged them- 

 selves into two categories, the yields in 1896 and 1898 being 

 double those of 1897 and 1899, and an attempt was made to 

 connect these differences with the meteorological conditions of the 

 seasons in question, taking either the conditions prevailing during 

 the five weeks preceding the period of gathering, or those exist- 

 ing during the time of gathering itself. The conditions examined 

 were : average air temperature, maximum temperature as shown 

 by a solar radiation thermometer, rainfall, humidity of the air, and 

 minimum temperature four inches above the ground. In no single 

 case was any connection traceable between these conditions and 

 the cropping of the plants, for an arrangement of any of the data 

 in question according to their order of magnitude did not coin- 

 cide with the order of magnitude or the reverse of the crops. 

 The cropping, therefore, must depend, either on minutiae which 

 are not brought to light by such average meteorological data, 

 or on the meteorological conditions obtaining at some other 

 periods of the year. 



As to the variation of the crops with the age of the plants, the 

 total yield from plants of different ages in any one particular 

 season were found to be as follows '. 



i year, 2 year, 3 year, 4 year, 5 year plants. 

 31 100 122 121 134 



showing an increase up to the third year, but no diminution 

 during the next two years. The size of the fruits, however, as 

 shown by the average weight per berry, indicated a steady 



