AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



435 



STR 



A genus of ornamental trees, natives of 

 Polynesia and the East Indies. Their showy 

 red or white flowers are borne in very long 

 pendulous racemes. The genus is now in- 

 cluded by Bentham and Hooker under Bar- 

 ringtonia. 



Strawberry. See Fragaria. Strawberries will 

 grow on almost any soil, but it is all-impor- 

 tant that it be well drained, either naturally 

 or artificially ; in fact, this is true for the well- 

 being of nearly all plants, as few plants do 

 well on soils where the water does not freely 

 pass off. Thorough culture requires that the 

 soil should be first dug or plowed, then spread 

 over with at least three inches of thoroughly 

 rotted stable manure, which should be dug or 

 plowed under, so far as practicable, to mix it 

 with the soil. If stable manure cannot be had, 

 artificial manure, such as ground bone dust, 

 etc., should be sown on the dug or plowed 

 ground, thick enough to nearly cover it, then 

 harrowed or chopped in with a fork, so that it 

 is well mixed with the soil to at least six inches 

 in depth. This, then, Is the preliminary 

 work before planting, to insure a crop the 

 next season after planting in nine or ten 

 months. The plants must be such as are 

 layered In pots, and the sooner they are 

 planted out after the 15th of July, the better, 

 although, if not then convenient, they will 

 produce a crop the next season even if 

 planted as late as the middle of September ; but 

 the sooner they are planted the larger will be 

 the crop. They may be set from pot layers 

 either in beds of four rows each, fifteen inches 

 apart, and fifteen inches between the plants, 

 leaving two feet between the beds for path- 

 way ; or be set out in rows two feet apart, the 

 plants in the rows fifteen inches apart ; and if 

 the plants are properly set out (care being 

 taken to firm the soil around the plant, which 

 is best done by pressing the soil against each 

 plant with the foot), not one plant in a thou 

 sand of Strawberry plants that have been 

 grown in pots will fail to grow. For the first 

 three or four weeks after planting nothing 

 heed be done except to hoe the beds, .so that 

 all weeds are kept down. Be careful to do 

 this once in every ten days ; for if the weeds 

 once get a start, it will treble the labor of 

 keeping the ground clean. In about a month 

 after planting they will begin to throw out 

 runners, all of which must be pinched or cut off 

 as they appear, so that by the end of the grow- 

 ing season (1st of November) each plant will 

 have formed a complete bush one foot or more 

 in diameter, having the necessary matured 

 " crowns " for next June's fruit. By the mid- 

 dle of December the entire beds of Strawberry 

 plants should be covered up with salt-meadow 

 hay (straw, leaves or anything similar will do 

 as well) to the depth of two or three inches, 

 entirely covering up the plants and soil, so 

 that nothing is seen but the hay. By April 

 the plants so protected will show indications 

 of growth, when the hay around each plant is 

 pushed a little aside, to assist it in getting 

 through the covering, so that by May the fully 

 developed plant shows on the clean surface of 

 the hay. This mulching, " as it is called, is 

 indispensable to the best culture, as it pro- 

 tects the plants from cold in winter, keeps 

 the fruit clean, keeps the roots cool by shading 

 them from the hot sun in June, and, at the 

 same time, saves nearly all further labor after 



STR 



being once put on, as few weeds can push 

 through it. By this method we prefer to plant 

 new beds every year, though, if desired, the 

 beds once planted may be fruited for two or 

 three years, as by the old plans ; but the fruit 

 the first season will always be the largest in 

 size, if not greatest in number. Another advan- 

 tage of this system is that, where space is lim- 

 ited, there is quite time enough to get a crop 

 of Potatoes, Peas, Beans, Lettuce, Radishes, 

 or, in fact, any summer crop off the ground 

 first before planting the Strawberries, thus 

 taking two crops from the ground in one year, 

 if desired, and there is also plenty of time to 

 crop the ground with Cabbage, Cauliflower, 

 Celery, or other fall crop after the crop of 

 Strawberries has been gathered. The'plan of. 

 getting the pot layers of Strawberries is very 

 simple. Just as soon as the fruit is gathered, 

 if the beds are well forked up between the 

 rows, the runners or young plants will begin 

 to grow, and in two weeks will be fit to layer 

 in pots. The pots, which should be from two 

 to three inches in diameter, are filled with 

 the soil in which the Strawberries are growing, 

 and "plunged" or sunk to the level of the 

 surface ; the Strawberry layer is then laid on 

 the pot, being held in place with a small 

 stone. The stone not only serves to keep the 

 plant in its place so that its roots will strike 

 into the pot, but it also serves to mark where 

 each pot is; for, being sunk to the level of 

 the surface, rains wash the soil around the 

 pots, so that they could not well be seen un- 

 less marked by the stone. In ten or twelve 

 days after the Strawberry layers have been 

 put down the pots will be filled with roots. 

 They are then cut from the parent plant, 

 placed closely together, and shaded and 

 watered for a few days before being plan ted out. 

 Some plant them out at once when taken up, 

 but, Unless the weather is very suitable, some 

 loss may occur by this method ; by the other 

 plan, however, of hardening them for a few 

 days, not one in a thousand will fail. Straw- 

 berries for field culture are usually planted 

 from the ordinary layers, either in August and 

 September in the fall, or in March, April or 

 May in'the spring. They are Jsually planted 

 in rows, two to three feet apart, and nine to 

 twelve itches between the plants. In plant- 

 ing, every plant should be well firmed, or 

 freat loss is almost certain to ensue, as the 

 trawberry is a plant always difficult to trans- 

 plant. They are usually worked by a horse- 

 cultivator, and generally two or three crops 

 are taken before the beds are plowed under ; 

 but the first crop given (which is in the second 

 year after planting) is always the best. The 

 same care must be taken as in planting by pot 

 layers, the ground must be kept clear of 

 weeds, and the runners pinched or cut off to 

 make fruiting crowns. By the usual field 

 method of culture, it will be seen that there 

 is a loss of one season in about three ; for in 

 the year of planting no fruit, of course, is pro- 

 duced, and for this reason we incline to the 

 belief that, if a portion were set aside to pro- 

 duce early plants, so that pot layers could be 

 set out by the 15th of July, a toll crop of the 

 finest fruit could be had every season, and: 

 with less cost, we think ; for the only labor 

 after planting Is to keep the ground clean and 

 pinch off the runners from July to Octo- 

 ber, with the certainty of getting a full crop 



