266 



The Canadian Horticulturist. 



HINTS ABOUT STRAWBERRIES. 



R GEORGE T. POWELL, in an address on Strawberry Culture, 

 before a New York Farmers' Institute, made these remarks : In 

 fertilizing the strawberry remember that it yields from near the 

 surface and as a consequence is easily water-killed. To make 

 success sure it is therefore best to underdrain a piece of land to 

 carry off the surplus moisture in fall and spring. The soil should 

 be moist, but not wet. Under drains are fully as valuable in dry as in wet 

 weather, as they prevent, in a measure, the exportation of moisture from the 

 soil. A soil that will produce a good crop of corn will produce a good crop of 

 strawberries. 



Potash is the best fertilizer for the strawberry. The vine and foliage require 

 nitrogen to perfect them ; the fruit, potash and phosphoric acid. The former 

 will be cheaply obtained from good barnyard manure, the latter from ashes and 

 ground bone. 



I plant in the spring, in rows four feet apart one way, and grow in what is 

 called the matted row system, not permitting the rows to spread more than six- 

 teen to eighteen inches. The second season I obtained the best crop. When 

 the crop is harvested I put in the plough and turn under the whole mass. I 

 have a new bed coming on each year for next season's crop. 



If the rows are four feet apart a row of beans may be grown between them 

 the first season, but the ground should be well cultivated, the cultivator running 

 within six inches of the crowns till the runners start to grow, which, when they 

 have reached a distance of eight or nine inches on each side pinch off. As fine 

 specimens and as large crops may thus be grown as by the hill system. 



How TO Cook the Cranberry. — The American Cranberry Growers' 

 Association has approved and recommends the following recipes for cooking this 

 fruit : No. i. — -i quart berries, i pound granulated sugar, ^ pint of water. 

 Cook ten minutes ; shake the vessel ; do not stir. No. 2. — 1 quart berries, i 

 pound granulated sugar, i pint water. Bring sugar and water to a boil ; add the 

 fruit and boil till clear — fifteen or twenty minutes. No. 3. — i pound berries, i 

 pint (scant) cold water, l^ pound cranulated sugar. Boil together berries and 

 water ten minutes; add sugar and boil five minutes longer. Gently stir, or 

 shake, to prevent scorching. In all these recipes use berries of a bright medium 

 color, as they are more delicate in flavor, jolly better and make more sauce than 

 over-ripe dark ones. 



