CHAPTER XXVI. 



AFTERMATH. 



Not a bit of use in expecting to get a good crop of berries 

 from feeble plants. Make the plants as big and strong as 

 you can, with broad leaves. TIM. 



SHAKESPEARE states that strawberries were grown in gardens 

 in the time of .Richard III, but were a rarity. They were 

 among the street cries of Condon over 400 years ago. 



The great lyinnseus is reported to have cured himself of the 

 gout by partaking freely of strawberries a delightfully aesthetic 

 cure, and a most flattering testimonial to the efficacy of the 

 dainty scarlet fruit. 



Nicholas I,ongworth, of Ohio, was the first to discover the 

 cause of barrenness, which stood in the way of successful straw- 

 berry culture sixty years ago. The sexual difference in plants 

 was not understood before his time, and failure to produce fruit 

 was the customary thing. Only a little over forty years ago the 

 discovery was made that it was best to keep the sexes in separate 

 rows. Who made the discovery ? 



Do not overlook the importance of study before going deeply 

 into berry culture; and pay frequent visits to neighbors who 

 have had experience in this line. See what they do, hear what 

 they say, learn all you can from them. 



Manure liberally little and often say at intervals of a 

 month through the first summer. Sprinkle along the rows 

 nitrate of soda, bone meal and muriate of potash or chicken 

 manure and ashes, or any good commercial fertilizer, and do 

 not be afraid of 1,000 pounds per acre for the year, in addition to 

 any other manure that may have been applied at the first prepa- 

 ration of the ground, or as a winter mulch. 



Fruiting strawberries in hills is generally not as successful 

 as in matted rows. There are several reasons for this : when 

 grown in hills, in ground that is not level, the water washes 

 the loose soil from around the hills, leaving the plants high up, 

 and liable to suffer from drought. The fruit should be well shaded 

 from the not sun and this is not so well done ?n hill culture. 



