48 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



AUG L ST 14, 18 39. 



[For the New England Farmer.] 



Mr Brf-.ck — I sent yon a short statement in ref- 

 erence to the profits of a farm, which was present- 

 ed to your readers in the Farmer of June 19th : one 

 item of expense was accidentally omitted. Although 

 small in itself, it probably contrib jtes, to say the 

 least, as much as any other expense of the same 

 amount, to the favorable results of farming. That 

 the account may be finished, I g-ive it you to be 

 added to the Dr. side of the account: 



N. E. Farmer one year $3 50 



Binding- one vol. 75 



$3 25 

 It has been said that farmers are unlike those of 

 other professions in being ready at all times to 

 communicate their experience and results, in or- 

 der to encourage their brethren and promote their 

 welfare. I wish this was universally the case, and 

 have no doubt that the item of expense above re- 

 ferred to, would aid in bringing about so desirable 

 a distinction. A free interchange of opinions, 

 whether derived from theory or practice, or both, is 

 of mutual advantage, and an incentive to it will be 

 found in a well-conducted agricultural paper, which 

 every farmer should take — regarding the expense 

 as a necessanj, indispensable one. 



Now and then we hear men say that they do not 

 wish to become " book farmers." I have often 

 heard the term used and have heard of some pro- 

 fessedly agricultural paper using the term in a sig- 

 nificant sense, and have as often been led to en- 

 quire what the term means. Can you enlighten 

 me.' If explained it may not be so great a bug- 

 bear in the way of the farmer's profits. T. 

 Westhoro, Aug., 1839. 



[We do not recollect of seeing the terms hook 

 /ormer or iooi'/armtng-, explained in our dictiona- 

 ries, but suppose that book farmers are those who 

 in their agricultural pursuits, are desirous to be in- 

 structed by the experience of others, as communi- 

 cated tluough agricultural books and periodicals : 

 they are not disposed to follow the mode of agri- 

 culture pursued by their fathers and grandfathers, 

 without enquiring whether improvement may not be 

 made in each department of their own profession ; 

 but as they look around them and witness the great 

 advances made in every other profession by the 

 diff'usion of knov/ledge, they are led to conclude as 

 a matter of fact, that knowledge applied to agricul- 

 ture will produce improvement the same as when 

 applied to the arts. We have a proof of this in 

 the increased product of their farms, superior stock, 

 fruit, tools, &c. It is not necessary that a " book 

 farmer" should throw away the experience of his 

 ancestors, but endeavor by reading, reflecting, and 

 comparing, to improve upon their system (if they 

 had one) and if possible excel them. 



We often hear it said, " we do not wish to be- 

 come book farmers" — it always give us pain, for 

 we conceive that it is equivalent to sayina, we are 

 willing to go on in our business through life igno- 

 rant and blind to the improvements of others— sat- 

 isfied to toil at arm's length an up-hill course, and 

 having enough to keep soul and body together, we 

 are content. It is astonishing that there are so 

 great numbers in our country with so many facili- 

 ties for improvement, yet groping in the dark. We 

 have often been led to enquire, what shall be done 

 to induce the farmers more generally to read. 



J. B. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE CULTURE OF 



THE STRAWBERRY. 

 Bij A. J. DowNi.N'G, Botanic Garden and A'arseries, 

 .Wnvhurgh, A"". Y. 

 The strawberry is certainly one of the most valu- 

 able and delicious of all the smaller fruits. It is 

 not only easily cultivated, yielding an abundant 

 crop in a short time, from a very limited space of 

 ground ; but whili> its pleasant sub acid flavor is 

 agreeable to all palates, and lorms one of the most 

 delightlul additions to the dessert in summer, it is 

 also extremely wholesome, never, as is the case 

 with n'ost other fruits, undergoing the acetous fer- 

 mentation. In some diseases it has even been 

 found highly beneficial,- and it is aftirmed that Lin- 

 nseiis was cured of the gout by abundant use of 

 the berries. 



The strawberry, though a low herbaceous plant, 

 sends down remarkably strong roots. In good soils 

 these are often found to penetrate to the depth of 

 eighteen inches or more in a season. It is neces- 

 sary, therefore, to produce a fine bed, that the soil 

 be deep as well as rich. Where the sub-soil is 

 not positively bad, the ground is always much im- 

 proved by trenching, (two spades deep,) before set- 

 ting the plants. In doing this, a good coat of ma- 

 nure should be deposited between the two spits: 

 old garden soils -ivhich have been long cultivated, 

 are astonishingly improved by this practice, the 

 whole becoming renewed by the presence of the 

 fresh soil; and the growth of plants in such mould, 

 when again acted upon by the sun and air, is of 

 course proportionately vigorous. A deep mellow 

 loam, rather damp than dry, is undoubtedly the 

 preferable soil for this plant, but almost any soil 

 for so limited a species of culture, may, in the 

 hands of a judicious gardener, be rendered suitable 

 for it. We have seen very splendid crops of fruit 

 upon a very stiff yellow clay, mellowed down by 

 mixing with it anthracite coal ashes and manure. 



The best season for making new plantations of 

 the strawberry is either in spring, at a pretty early 

 period, or directly after the beds have ceased bear- 

 ing, in August. If the latter time is chosen, the 

 plants generally get sufficiently well established to 

 bear a considerable crop the ensuing year. 



There are various modes in which to plant the 

 beds when formed. Some arrange the plants so 

 as to be kept in, hills, others in rows, and others, 

 again, allow them to cover the whole surface of 

 the bed. We consider the first method preferable, 

 as in that way the ground can be kept cultivated 

 between the plants ; the fruit is generally larger 

 and finer, being more exposed to the genial influ- 

 ence of the sun, and the duration of the bed is 

 greater. Three or four ro-ivs may be planted in 

 each bed, at a suitable distance apart, and the run- 

 ners from the- rows should be shortened or cut oft" 

 about three times during the season. If the plants 

 are not thriving well, a light top dressing between 

 the rows in autumn ivill be of great advantage. — 

 Burning ofi" the upper surface of the bed in the 

 spring has been highly recommended by some per- 

 sons, but we have never found it to answer our ex- 

 pectations upon trial. 



This fruit receives its name from the very ancient 

 custom of placing straw on the beds, between the 

 rows of plants, to preserve the berries clean. The 

 custom is not yet too antiquated to be of less value 

 to those who desire the fruit in its greatest perfec- 



tion. Clean wheat or rye chafl^ may be substitu 

 ed for straw, and it has the very great additional ai 

 vantage of not only preventing most weeds fro 

 growing, by excluding the light, but also, by d 

 composing with considerable rapidity alter the fro 

 season is past, it contributes much to the enrici 

 ent of the surface soil of the bed. Youiig an 

 strong runners well rooted, should in all cases I 

 chosen to form the new bed, and not old plants, ( 

 those offsets which grow near thesi. 



There is a fact with regard to the strawberr 

 plant little known, the ignorance of which puzzle 

 many a good cultivator. This is the existence i 

 separate fertile and sterile or barren plants in man 

 of the varieties, otherwise plants n-hich produc 

 chiefly male, and others that produce only femal- 

 flowpi-s. Botanically, the strawberry should pn 

 duce both stamens and pistils in each flower, ar 

 the blossoms should consequently all mature frui 

 This is really the case with the alpine, the wo( 

 strawberries, &c., but not entirely so with the larj 

 scarlet and pine strawberries. These latter sort 

 it is well known, produce the largest and fine 

 fruit ; but we very often see whole beds of them ; 

 fine flourishing condition, almost entirely unprc 

 ductive. The common parlance in such cases 

 that the variety has run out, or degenerated, b' 

 the idea is a confused and ignorant one while ti 

 healthy aspect of the plants fully proves the vig^ 

 of the sort. 



The truth is, that in all strawberries of the for 

 going classes, although each blossom is furnish! 

 with stamens and pistils, yet, in some plants tl 

 pistils are so few that they can scarcely be percei 

 ed ; in others, there are scarcely any stamens vi 

 ible. When the plants bear blossoms furnishi 

 with stamens only, (or in a large proportion,) tb 

 are of course barren ; when pistils only are pr 

 duced in abundance, they are fertile. To have 

 bed planted so as to bear abundantly, about oi 

 plant in eight or ten should be staininate or barr 

 blossoming plants ; the others the fertile ones — i 

 if the latter only be kept, they alone will also 

 found unproductive. 



If any person will examine a bed of the Hudsi 

 or any of the large scarlet strawberries, -when thi 

 are in blossom, he n-ill discover a great number 

 plants which bear large showy blossoms filled wi 

 fine yellow stamens. These are the barren plani 

 Here and there, also, he will discover plants bea 

 ing much smaller blossoms, filled w-ith the heads 

 pistils, like a small green strawberry. The latt 

 are the fertile ones. Now the vigor of the barn 

 plants is so much greater than that of the ferti 

 ones, and their offsets are so much more numcrot 

 that if care be not taken to prevent this, they so( 

 completely overrun and crowd out the fertile 

 bearing plants, and to this cause only is to be a 

 tributed the unproductive state of many beds of tl 

 Urge fruited strawberries, which are in many i 

 stances perhaps, entirely devoid of fertile plants. 

 The proper method undoubtedly is to select 

 few fertile plants of each kind, plant them in 

 small bed by then:selves, and allow them to increa: 

 freely by runners ; then, on planting, the prop 

 proportion could be made and kept up by the reg! 

 lar clipping of the runners. 



Many of the fine English varieties of strawberr 

 (Wilmot's superb, for instance,) are generally foiii 

 worthless here. This is owing, in some cases, 

 the ignorance or want of care of those persons wl 

 export the varieties, in sending often, no ferti 

 plants ; in other instances, it is equally owing i 



