76 



SMAJLL FEUIT CULTUBIST. 



land for forcing, and it would probably be worthy of trial 

 here, although it does not succeed very well in the opei: 

 air. 



Among our native varieties we have probably no better 

 variety for forcing, taking flavor and productiveness into 

 consideration, than the Boston Pine. The monthly Al- 

 pines do exceedingly well, and the fruit is usually con- 

 siderably larger than when grown in the open ground. 



THIXXIXG THE FRUIT. 



It is sometimes necessary to take ofl* a portion of the 

 fruit from forced plants. This should be done as soon as 

 it has set, thereby giving that which remains a better 

 chance for full development. Numbers do not always in- 

 dicate quantity, and, with ten to fifteen berries upon each 

 plant, as many quarts will usually be obtained from 

 a given space as with twice as many to each. 



Plants that are not over-cropped at first, may often be 

 made to produce a second crop by giving stimulating 

 manure soon after the first is gathered. 



One crop, however, is all that is usually expected with 

 those which do not produce any more naturally. 



HYBRIDIZIXG AND CROSSING. 



The Strawberry may be hybridized or crossed as readily 

 as other fruits, but this having already been done to such 

 an extent between the F, Virginiana andi^^. grandJflora^ 

 the results of special effort in the same direction will be 

 very uncertain, especially if we use the varieties under 

 cultivation for that purpose. 



These being in many instances a mixture of two species, 

 it becomes a difficult matter to determine whether the 

 cause which produced certain results originated with us, 

 or was the effect of some previous operation which had 

 just made itself apparent in the seedlings. 



