1883.] 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



65 



STRAWBERRIES AND THEIR CULTURE. 



The Strawberry is one of the most capri- 

 cious plants. A variety may do well in a 

 certain locality, and in another not far dis- 

 tant may be a perfect failure. There are 

 some varieties which, like the Baldwin Apple 

 and Concord Grape, are adapted to a wide 

 extent of territory. Such is the Wilson, 

 which is recommended by the American Po- 

 mological Society for thirty-five States and 

 Territories, while no other is recommended 

 for more than twenty-eight. We must, 



MANCHESTER. 



therefore, study the character of soils, loca- 

 tions, and climates, and select such varieties 

 as are best adapted to them. The acclima- 

 tion of tender or half-hardy plants is a fal- 

 lacy, and we must rely on the fitness of 

 things to the condition in which we live. 



The Strawberry has assumed great import- 

 ance among our cultivated fruits, and great 

 progress has been made in the production of 

 new and fine kinds, but there is still room 

 for improvement. We know no reason why 

 we may not produce varieties of Strawber- 

 ries of the finest quality, and such as are 

 adapted to every section of our vast territory. 



JERSEY QUEEN. 



To produce them we should select as breed- 

 ers those which possess the characteristics 

 which we wish to obtain. To make sure of 

 a perfect cross, pistillate, kinds should lie 

 chosen and impregnated with those of the 

 greatest excellences ; for example, the Cres- 

 cent — which, though of second quality, 

 possesses extraordinary hardiness and pro- 

 ductiveness, with good form and color — 

 with the President Wilder, Duncan, Triple 

 Crown, and other high-flavored sorts. What 

 is wanted is varieties of excellence that 

 everybody can grow. 

 In regard to culture, the Strawberry is a 



gross feeder, and without a well-prepared 

 soil and abundant supply of proper food, and 

 at the proper time, no great success can be 

 anticipated. We should plant on land which 

 has not been for some years occupied with 

 Stra wberries, anil manure and prepare thor- 

 oughly, and give a good top-dressing imme- 

 diately after the fruitiug season, and repeat 

 this in the spring, being very careful not to 

 disturb the roots. Well-rotted stable manure 

 is good; ashes — or, as a substitute, muri- 

 ate of potash — and bone are excellent fertil- 



j izers, and these are the better if composted 



| with soil or manure, and allowed to heat 

 before using. In this climate the spring is 



I the best time for general planting. 



But when every care has been taken in 



I planting, we have often to contend with the 



j heat and drought of summer, which is the 

 most formidable of all difficulties. No plant 



| is more benefited by a constant supply of 

 water in the fruiting season than the Straw- 



! berry, and I repeat rny former advice, "Give 

 the Strawberry water! water ! water! and still 

 a little more water ! " If I were to grow it 

 on a large scale for. market, I would provide 

 the means of irrigation, so that water might 

 be given whenever needed. 



J Some varieties require to be grown in hills, 



j and to have the runners cut off so soon as 

 they appear. Such are the Sharpless, Bid- 

 well, and Triomphe de Gaud. Some are 

 pistillate, and require the bisexual kinds to 

 be planted near by, and to bloom at the same 

 time. Such are the Hovey, Crescent, Jersey 

 Queen, and Manchester. For want of proper 

 impregnation these kinds often fail of a crop, 

 but with a suitable companion the pistillate 



'• varieties produce very large crops, as did the 

 Hovey forty years ago, and as Mr. Hovey 

 shows lis it can do now. Some varieties pro- 

 duce a large number of trusses, and give 

 promise, when in bloom, of extraordinary 

 crops, but do not yield so much as those of 

 less pretentious appearance. There is a 

 limit to the power of production, and where 

 there is a. superabundance of trusses of flow- 

 ers, only a portion will set their fruit and 

 carry it out to perfection without excessive 

 stimulation. Another cause of failure is a 

 deficiency of pollen in some of the bisexual 

 varieties, and it is well to plant near them 

 such as are furnished with abundance of it. 



Among the varieties which are taking the 

 place of the Wilson and other inferior kinds 

 is the Charles Downing. Though not hard 

 enough for distant transportation, it is for 

 home use and near markets assuming a 

 prominent place for general cultivation. The 

 catalogue of the American Pomological So- 

 ciety shows, that during the last eight years 



' the Charles Downing has increased in popu- 

 larity four times as much as the Wilson in 



! the same period, and stands to-day second on 

 the list of forty-one varieties. It sometimes 

 blights, but has never done so with the 

 essayist for fifteen years, and there is now 

 no variety of equally good quality so gener- 

 ally cultivated. 



For garden culture I prefer planting in 

 rows three feet apart, and one foot apart in 



| the rows, allowing each to make from two to 

 four shoulder runners, and no more, for the 

 first season. These, by autumn, will make 

 a row of thrifty, strong-bearing plants, and 

 will produce more than the common matted 

 row. For field culture, the rows should be 

 four feet apart, and the plants one foot in 



i the row, arid all superfluous runners should 



be pinched off, so as to leave only strong 

 plants. The degeneracy or wearing out of 

 varieties may often be traced to the exhaus- 

 tion of proper elements in the soil, and to 

 bad manipulation of the plants. 



In the rage for novelties, described as the 

 "best in the world," we meet with many dis- 

 appointments, and sometimes become dis- 

 gusted with their failures, and cast them out 

 as worthless without a fair trial. So also 

 with some of the old kinds, which have not 

 been so much cultivated as in former years, 

 such as the Hovey, Jucunda, Triomphe de 

 Gand, and others which were once popu- 

 lar. It would be a wise measure for the 

 Society to offer a special premium for the 

 restoration of those old, valuable varieties 



PRI MO. 



of fruits and flowers which have gone out of 

 general cultivation. 



Among the new varieties now being pro- 

 mulgated as possessing extraordinarily good 

 characteristics are the Manchester, Jersey 

 Queen, Primo, Hart's Minnesota, Iron Clad, 

 James Yick, and Big Bob — the last unfortu- 

 nately saddled with a vulgar name, which I 

 ask pardon for uttering. Should any one of 

 these come up to what is claimed for it, we 

 should need no other kind. But we have not 

 yet arrived at the summit of perfection 

 with the Strawberry or an)- other fruit. 

 What has been said should not prevent any 

 one from testing these new varieties, but 

 we should prove all things, and hold fast to 



HART'S MINNESOTA. 



those which are good. The field for improve- 

 ment is immense ; with the appliances of. 

 cross fertilization and human skill, its limits 

 are almost without bounds.— The Hon. Mar- 

 shall P. Wilder, before the Massachusetts Hor- 

 ticultural Society. 



During the discussion which followed the 

 above address, Mr. John B. Moore said that 

 the Strawberry crop is not always in propor- 

 tion to the manure. If a plant has food 

 enough it is a question whether more is not 

 injurious. He knew of crops that had been 

 injured by too much nitrogenoiis manure. 



