264 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



Peabody succeeded, as stated, on a sandy soil, with a very thin 

 coating of loam, and a mulch of oak and pine leaves, with plenty 

 of water. 



A strawberry, in order to assume an ever-bearing habit, must 

 not produce runners freely, or its bearing habit will cease; and 

 the vigor of the vines will soon induce runners, unless the soil is 

 so reduced. Mr. Peabody, the last of December, a year ago, sent 

 some two dozen plants, Hovey's Seedling and Early Scarlet, straw- 

 berries in full training, to New-York; but the foliage was very 

 small and vigorous, scarcely a leaf was larger than a two shilling 

 piece, and yet blossoms, green or ripe fruit were abundant. As 

 long as the plants w^ere treated in the same manner, in the same 

 reduced soil, north, they continued in the same habit; and Mr. 

 Peabody say^ he has no doubt but on the cooler, sandy or gravelly 

 soils of New Jersey or Long Island, properly prepared and well 

 watered, he could easily supply strawberries for the tables or 

 market around New- York, continually, from early-bearing until 

 frost. Mr. Pardee had experimented considerably in this direc- 

 tion, and he fully coincided with Mr. Peabody as to the practica- 

 bility of the thing in this vicinity. The plants w^ould need per- 

 haps to be trained out of their usual habit of a great overgrowth 

 of vines, and as a consequence, soil reduced below that for ordi- 

 nary field culture. 



As to the cost of production, Mr. Pardee agreed fully with that 

 intelligent and reliable horticulturalist, John J. Thcmas, that 

 strawberries could be produced as cheaply as potatoes, except the 

 gathering, or not to exceed fifty cents per bushel. The average 

 of crops about New-York does not exceed from thirty to forty 

 bushels per acre, when, with suitable cultivation, they could easily 

 be made to produce from one hundred to two hundred bushels 

 per acre, and even at the rate of three hundred bushels had been 

 certified to in some of our horticultural journals. Well grown 

 and good varieties of the strawberry produce one-third extra large 

 fruit, nearly four inches in circumference; and such fine fruit will 

 sell for three to four shillings per quart in New- York market. 

 So that in that way the produce of an acre of w^ell cultivated 

 strawberries could easily be made to bring one thousand dollars, 

 or more. It is not pretended that rich and highly manured 



