260 TREATISE ON FRUIT TREES. 



than it can sustain, & the last flowers on weak plants & on most American strawberry 

 plants abort. Or if they do set fruit, the amount that they add to the first crop won't make 

 any noticeable difference. Furthermore, if the flowers appear sequentially, the last ones 

 only opening when the first fruits have reached full size or are even ripe, it can't detract 

 from their beauty. 



After the strawberries have been harvested, the strawberry plants, normally with 

 very extensive offshoots, are thinned out, hoed, & mulched again. For the rest of the 

 summer they're watered as needed to maintain their growth. Some gardeners cut off all 

 their leaves. But when they're completely exposed to the heat of the sun like that, many 

 offshoots & even entire plants die if they're not re-mulched & frequently watered during 

 dry spells. 



After two crops have been harvested from the strawberry plants, they're pulled up. 

 The ground that they've occupied can't be used again for the same purpose for another 

 twelve or thirteen years, unless new soil is introduced & mixed with it or small furrows 

 are dug as mentioned above. 



That's a general summary of the cultivation of strawberry plants. I've left out 

 details of several minor concerns that are adequately learned by common sense & a little 

 experience. Cultivation in hothouses, on manure beds, in frames, &c. is not our objective 

 here at all. Alpine strawberries can be obtained all winter long with much less care & 

 expense without using heat from fuel or from compost that is harmful to this strawberry 

 plant. It's sufficient to protect them from severe cold in a container covered with a glass 

 frame. The outside of the container is furnished with long straw, moss, or even with earth 

 to keep out the frost. At night the frame is taken off & straw mats are thrown on top 

 during hard frosts. They're taken off during the daytime 



