THE STRAWBERRY. 601 



setting. 6. If watered after setting, finish by drawing on mel- 

 low surface earth, and avoid covering the crown. 7. Plants 

 set at midsummer should have the surface about them covered 

 with fine manure an inch deep, to keep it moist and prevent 

 crusting. 



Selection of Varieties. — Independently of fine quality, 

 the selection of suitable varieties is of great importance. 

 Some sorts, celebrated and highly recommended, will not 

 yield a tenth part of the crop afEorded by others. The most 

 productive, among which the Crescent is conspicuous, have 

 yielded at the rate of one hundred, and often two hundred 

 bushels per acre ; the ground, at the period of ripening, glow- 

 ing with the dense red clusters, which nearly cover the surface ; 

 while on some foreign varieties the fruit is so thinly scattered 

 and imperfect that whole square feet are destitute of fine 

 specimens. It must constantly be remembered that no fruit 

 is so influenced by soil and other conditions as the strawberry. 

 Varieties which in our locality are nearly everything that 

 could be desired are almost valueless in others. In all cases 

 where large numbers of plants are to be set out, the experi- 

 ence of the State Agricultural Experiment Station should be 

 availed of. 



Staminate and Pistillate Sorts. 



As the productive qualities of strawberries depend so essen- 

 tially on the presence of the stamens and pistils, some attention 

 to this part of the subject becomes indispensable to their suc- 

 cessful culture. 



Modem cultivators divide all strajwberries into two distinct 

 classes, one being termed staminate (or " male"), in which the 

 stamens are fully developed and possess the power of ferti- 

 lizing the germ ; and the other being i&rra&& pistillate (or " fe- 

 male"), in which the stamens are abortive, or so small and 

 imperfectly developed that they fail to accomplish fertiliza- 

 tion. In this work it is deemed advisable to designate the 

 two as " perfect" and " imperfect." Figs 805 and 806 represent 

 the usual appearance of these two kinds of flowers ; and Figs. 

 807 and 808 enlarged portions of the same, Fig. 808 exhibit- 

 ing a part of the flower of the Large Early Scarlet, and Fig. 



