THE 



SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



l§£bBtrts to B&vituimpt, gjartftiilture, m% the $>ousdioltf MfetE 



Agriculture is the nursing mother of the Arts. — 



Xenophon. 



FRANK: G. RUFFIN, Editor and Proprietor. 



Vol. XV. 



From the Horticulturist. 

 STRAWBERRIES AND THEIR CULTURE. 



The discussion of the strawberry question, 

 which has occupied the pages of agricultural 

 and horticural journals so largely for a few 

 years past, has been the means, directly and 

 indirectly, of advancing materially the culti- 

 vation of that fruit. We find ample evidence 

 of this in the more abundant supply of our 

 markets, and in the production of a large num- 

 ber of seedling varieties. Recent letters from 

 correspondents in all parts of the country, as 

 well as reports of late exhibitions, all testify to 

 the very general interest which is felt on the 

 subject, and the progress that has been made. 

 But, after all, we are constrained to say that 

 our cultivation is yet very imperfect. The 

 size and appearance of. the great bulk of fruit 

 offered in market, convince us of this. Those 

 who know how to cultivate, are in many cases 

 slovenly, or act upon the principle that good 

 culture will not pay ; while there are many 

 who fail for the want of correct information on 

 the subject. We have now before us a large 

 number of inquiries on the subject. One 

 wants to know how to prepare the soil ; ano- 

 ther when to plant ; another how to plant. 

 Several correspondents who are well informed 

 on the subject of cultivation, ask us to give 

 them the names of the best perfect flowering 

 sorts, as they are tired of keeping separate the 

 staminate and pistilate varieties. We have 

 therefore thought it best to offer a few hints 

 which will serve as a general answer. 



We will state here, at the outset, that to 

 cultivate the strawberry successfully, is but a 

 simple matter. To grow large, handsome, fine 

 flavored fruit in abundance, it is not necessary 

 to employ a chemist to furnish us with a long 

 list of specifics, nor even to employ a gardener 

 by profession, who can boast long years of ex- 

 perience. Any one who can manage a crop of 

 corn or potatoes, can, if he will, grow straw- 

 Vol. XV.— 10. 



Tillage and Pasturage are the two breasts of the 

 State. — Sully. 



T. BAILIE, Publisher. 



No. 10. 



berries. We may say this much by way of 

 encouragement, because so much has been said 

 in regard to various methods ot culture, and 

 various applications and specifics, that some 

 people have become persuaded that a vast deal 

 of learning and experience are necessary to 

 produce large crops of strawberries. 



Judging from what we have seen, we believe 

 that the great cause of failure is negligence. 

 The strawberry plant — not like a tree, which, 

 when once set in its place, remains there — is 

 constantly sending out shoots (runners) in all 

 directions, taking possession of the ground ra- 

 pidly around the parent plant. In a short 

 time, therefore, unless these runners are kept 

 in check, the ground becomes entirely occupied 

 with plants, the parent plant becomes exhaust- 

 ed, and the ground can no longer be stirred or 

 kept in such condition as is necessary to sustain 

 their vigor. The result is, the ground is cov- 

 ered with a mass of starved and weakly plants, 

 choking up each other in a hard, uncultivated 

 soil, and producing a sparce crop of small, in- 

 sipid berries, that dry up on their stocks before 

 they are ripe, unless it happens to rain every 

 day. 



The constant stirring of the soil around the 

 plants, is one thing which in our climate is ab- 

 solutely necessary to successful cultivation ; 

 and any system of culture which precludes 

 this, or throws any obstacles in its way, is de- 

 fective. If any one will examine his straw- 

 berry beds, he will find the plants along the 

 outer edges of the beds, where the soil has been 

 kept clean and fresh by the frequent use of the 

 hoe, vigorous and healthy, with luxuriant dark 

 green foliage, and large, fine fruit; while in 

 the interior of the beds, where the plants have 

 grown into masses, and covered all the ground, 

 so as to prevent its cultivation, they are yellow 

 and sickly looking, and the fruit poor and 

 worthless. This we' see in our own grounds, 

 and everywhere that we find the plants grow- 

 ing under similar circumstances. Does not 



RICHMOND, OCTOBER, 1855 



