60 



SMALL FKUIT CULTUniST. 



By Seed. — To obtain seeds, the fruit should be gath 

 ered when fully nj)e, spread out and dried, thus preserving 

 it in the pulp ; or the fruit may be crushed in water and 

 the seeds washed out cleanly. The good seeds will sink 

 and the pulp will remain on the surface, from which it can 

 be readily removed. 



The seeds may be sown immediately, or kept until tho 

 next spring. 



The plan which I have usually adopted in raising seed 

 lings is as follows : 



Gather the largest berries of the very best varieties to be 

 obtained, then mix them with dry sand, crushing the fruit, 

 and so thoroughly manipulating the mass that no two 

 seeds will remain together. Then sow the sand contain- 

 ing -/jLC seed, either in some half shady situation in the 

 open ground, or in pots or boxes. The soil in which they 

 are sown should be light and friable, and the seeds not 

 covered more than one-quarter of an inch deep. Keep 

 the soil moist, and the plants will usually begin to a23pear 

 in four to six weeks after sowing. When they have 

 formed four or five leaves they may be transplanted into 

 tlie open ground — if they have been started in pots or 

 boxes. When sown in the open ground, it is best to let 

 them remain in the seed-bed until the following spring, 

 protecting them with straw, leaves or other similar ma- 

 terial in winter. Transplant into rows at least two feet 

 apart, and the same distance in the row ; keep off all run- 

 lers the first season and hoe often. 



Occasionally a seedling will produce fruit the second 

 season — that is, plants started in the autumn will fruit the 

 next spring ; but they will not be strong enough to bear 

 fruit that will be a reliable indication of their future value. 

 It is best to protect the plants the first and second winters, 

 if no longer, so that they will have nothing to obstruct 

 Iheiv full development. The third season, look over the 

 plants very carefully when in bloom, a«d mark the sex of 



