1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



447 



comb. The honey is described as being of a pe- 

 culiarly limpid character, and of very good qual- 

 ity ; it frequently is to be found on the tables of 

 the settlers in the interior, and used as an article 

 of luxury by them. This honey is found in the 

 forests of the interior. My brother saw some 

 which had been procured 500 miles inland from 

 Sydney. — Letter from Australia. 



STRAWBERBY CULTUBE. 

 We have already given one or two articles on 

 the culture of the strawberry, but as the subject 

 is one in which everybody is interested, and as 

 not one-tenth of our pesple are yet supplied with 

 this delicious fruit, we copy the two popular 

 modes of culture as given in Hovey^s Magazine, 

 for August. We are confident they will be ac- 

 ceptable to a large portion of our readers. 



"We shall now detail the two modes pursued 

 by the cultivators around Boston. We say two, 

 for there may be others, but we take such as we 

 have witnessed, and these comprise the Belmont 

 system, and that pursued by Mr. Scott, and some 

 others. 



The Belmont growers prepare their ground 

 well by some crop the previous year to planting. 

 They manure well, plow deep, and set out their 

 plants in April or May. These are planted in 

 single rows, about a foot apart in the row, and 

 just four feet from row to row, running the whole 

 width and length of the ground, with an occasion- 

 al cross alley of three feet for easy access to the 

 centre of the field. The ground is kept clean un- 

 til the runners begin to spread rapidly towards 

 the last of June, when no more labor is required 

 during the season, other than to pull out a few 

 weeds, for the young plants so quickly and com- 

 pletely cover the ground that very few weeds will 

 start up. By the autumn, the whole ground will 

 be covered, when a walk about a foot wide is 

 cleared out in the middle of the rows, leaving 

 solid beds of plants just three feet wide. This 

 walk is for the pickers to stand in, also to afi"ord 

 air and light to the plants. On the approach of 

 winter the beds are covered with meadow hay, 

 which is removed in the spring, except that in the 

 walks between the beds, which is left undisturbed 

 in oi'der to keep the fruit clean. 



The fruit begins to ripen about the middle of 

 June, and is usually all gathered by the 10th of 

 July, when the beds are immediately turned un- 

 der with the plow, a new plantation made in the 

 spring supplying the crop for the next year. The 

 next spring the land is well manured and plant- 

 ed with potatoes or some other crop, and the fol- 

 lowing year is ready for another plantation of 

 strawberries. 



This is the mode now pursued by the best Bel- 

 mont cultivators with the Hovey's Seedling, and 

 though an old plan, pursued by English cultiva- 

 tors as we have above shown, it was entirely 

 original here with Mr. J. O. Locke, who first 

 tried it, and with so niych success that nearly all 

 follow it. The old plan was to keep the beds two 

 or three years, and this is still followed by those 

 who raise the Old Virginia. 



As regards fertilizers, the Belmont growers 

 plant six rows of Hovey's Seedling, and then one 



or two rows of Jenny Lind, Boston Pine or Brigh- 

 ton Pine. These are ample to thoroughly ferti- 

 lize the plants. These sorts are subjected to the 

 same treatment, — all plowed up after one crop. 

 More complete details of the Belmont plan will 

 be found in our volume for 1859. 



The system pursued by Mr. Scott and some of 

 the extensive Brighton growers is diff'erent. It 

 is as follows : The beds are marked out three feet 

 apart, with an alley of a foot, (which is just the 

 same as the Belmont growers allow ;) but two 

 rows of plants are set out in each bed, instead of 

 one ; these are planted about nine inches from 

 the edge, leaving a space of about eighteen inches 

 between the two rows. The plants are allowed 

 to cover all the ground, (three feet wide,) the 

 runners in the walks being cleared away. 



The treatment the first year is just as we have 

 detailed with the Belmont growers. But instead 

 of plowing up the beds after the first crop, they 

 are allowed to stand the second year, keeping 

 them clean and removing superfluous runners. 

 The crop the second year is good, but not equal 

 to the first ; after that they are plowed up and 

 the ground cultivated a year or two with some 

 crop, when it is again occupied with strawberries. 



The diflference in the two modes is this. The 

 fruit of the Belmont growers is in the highest 

 perfection every year, (except injury from drouth,) 

 with less labor in planting the beds at first, and 

 in keeping down the weeds the second year. By 

 the Belmont plan, there is a crop every other 

 year ; by the Brighton plan, two crops in three 

 years. But it is believed that the extra size and 

 product of the Belmont system will yield a much 

 greater profit than the inferior size and diminished 

 product of the second year on the Brighton plan. 

 What the exact crop of Mr. Scott is per acre, 

 taking the two years, we do not know, but the 

 crop of Mr. Wellington was 4100 quarts in 1859, 

 4000 in 1860, and this year, in consequence of 

 the dry weather, less than 3500. The diff"erence 

 in the expense of culture is, we should suppose, 

 not large ; but the crop must be much smaller 

 and inferior the second year. 



For the New England Farmer. 



DOGS. 



Pray keep up your war upon dogs. Show no 

 quarter to the worthless beast. Why should New 

 England lose millions annually by dogs ? Sheep 

 are nearly exterminated in Massachusetts. Mut- 

 ton is high, and we need all the wool we can pro- 

 duce. We have a great extent of territory that 

 can be profitably devoted to sheep raising, but 

 the dogs forbid it ; there is but one way of get- 

 ting rid of the nuisance. Pass a law prohibiting 

 their running at large, and allow any one to 

 shoot them where so found. Why give a bounty 

 for wolves and wjld cats, while you allow protec- 

 tion to the dogs that do more damage in one year 

 than all the wild animals in the State do in ten ? 

 If a man wants a dog, let him keep the creature 

 on his own premises, and go at large at his peril. 

 Why let dogs run in the highways any more than 

 cattle ? In the towns around Boston no cow is 

 allowed to run at large, yet a cow is a harmless 

 animal compared to a dog. Down with them. 



C. 



