204 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



[November, 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Protecting Strawberries.— The Strawberry 

 being indigenous to our country, growing 

 wild as far north as Newfoundland and close 

 up t<> the arctic region, it will suggest itself 

 at once that a plant of this character does 

 not require protection against cold, and that 

 the losses which occur under cultivation must ; 

 result from other causes than a low degree 

 of temperature. This fact becomes still 

 more apparent in many instances in which 

 plants that have survived the severest win- 

 ters were destroyed by unfavorable weather 

 in March. 



In its natural state the Strawberry is 

 generally found growing in deep, rich, and 

 moist ground, yet free from standing water, 

 and these are just the conditions of soil 

 which we endeavor to provide for its most 

 successful cultivation. But it is never or 

 rarely found in bare ground ; it abounds 

 in rich meadows where withered blades of 

 grass protect it during winter, or in moder- 

 ately open woods among decaying vegetable 

 matter, and near enough to trees to derive 

 the benefit of their falling leaves. 



This light covering, although it furnishes 

 but little protection against cold, provides 

 sufficient shelter to ward off the frequent and 

 sudden freezings and thawings which occur 

 in early spring, and prove often more disas- 

 trous than the severest cold of midwinter. 

 While under cultivation, plants will heave or 

 become thrown out of the ground entirely uu 

 der certain variations of temperature, it will 

 be found that in their wild state the soil 

 around them remains firmly frozen and 

 does not thaw generally before warm winds 

 and spring rains melt all the frost with one 

 general thaw. To imitate these conditions 

 as closely as possible in our gardens and 

 fields is the object of winter mulching. 



Salt-hay is used almost exclusively by those 

 within easy reach of it, as it is light, elastic, 

 and, above all, free from weed seeds. 



Straw, Wheat or Oat. and especially Bye 

 makes a very good mulch, and would leave 

 nothing to be desired if it were not for the 

 obnoxious seeds which are almost always 

 contained in it. 



Leaves would, at first sight, seem to be the 

 most appropriate material, yet as gener- j 

 ally applied there is this objection to their 

 use, that they are apt to become too firmly 

 packed by the weight of snow, to the detri- 

 ment of the plants underneath them. In a 

 small way, this difficulty can be prevented, 

 however, by placing evergreen branches or 

 long cornstalks loosely over them. 



Evergreen branches, when they can be ob- 

 tained in sufficient quantities, furnish per- 

 haps the best protection. At least, we had 

 better results from their use than from any- 

 thing else. They should be placed with 

 their concave side down. 



Whatever material is used, the great points 

 to be observed are : 



1. Not to put the mulch on too thick ; two 

 inches of straw or leaves are sufficient in all 

 cases, except, perhaps, on very wet soils. 



Not to cover the plants too early. When 

 the ground remains frozen night and day, 

 about the last week in November, in this 

 latitude, is early enough for mulching. 



FORCING STRAWBERRIES. 



The most important point in forcing Straw- 

 berries is to commence with strong, healthy 

 plants. It is useless to expect success with ' 

 puny, sickly plants. Only the strongest run- 

 ners should be used. These are layered in 

 pots as early in the season as possible, in 

 the manner described in previous numbers 

 of the American Garden. 



When the small pots have become well 

 filled with roots, the plants have to lie 

 shifted into five-inch pots, or two plants 

 may be set in a six-inch pot. The soil for 

 potting should consist of about equal parts 

 of good loam, rotted cow-manure, and leaf- 

 mold. The pots should be plunged to the j 

 rim in the ground, in a sunny situation, and 

 thoroughly watered whenever necessary. 



After a few autumn frosts, the pots should 

 be removed to a cold frame and sunk in leaf- 

 mold, covering the rim about two inches, and 

 leaving only the crowns of the plants uncov- 

 ered. This prevents the pots from becoming 

 broken by the action of the frost. In severe 

 cold weather, cover with sashes and shutters 

 until wanted for forcing. 



The middle of January is a favorable 

 season to commence forcing proper. The 

 shutters are then taken off in day-time, and 

 during night the sashes are well covered 

 with straw mats or salt-hay. In about a 

 week the pots will be thawed out sufficiently 

 that they can lie taken out. They are then 

 placed in a house with a temperature of 

 til) in day-time and 40° during night, 

 until blossoms appear, when the tempera- 

 ture should be increased to 70° in day-time 

 and 50° at night. Plenty of air has to be 

 given, and when the flowers have fully ex- 

 panded, pass over them, in the middle of 

 the day, with a camel's-hair brush, to dis- 

 tribute the pollen, and thereby promote the 

 better fertilization and setting of fruit. When 

 it is desirable to hasten the ripening of the 

 berries, the temperature should be raised to 

 GO 0 at night, 



Care must be taken not to crowd the plants 

 when in blossom ; they should not be placed 

 so near together as to touch each other. As 

 soon as the first blossoms show themselves, 

 the plants should be watered with thin liquid 

 manure about three times a week, up to the 

 period when the fruit commences to color, 

 when only cistern water should be applied. 

 With proper care, success i.? almost certain. 

 A plant exhibited last wintei at the Horti- 

 cultural Society bore forty-one berries. 



There are comparatively few varieties 

 suitable for forcing. I have always had best 

 success with Seth Boyden ; but Sbarpless, 

 Triomphe de Gand, President Wilder, and 

 others are also adapted for this purpose. 



Joseph Dunbar. 



SET TREES IF THE FALL. 



The majority of our fruit trees lose their ' 

 foliage in autumn and remain leafless 

 through the winter season. The leaves 

 which are to unfold with the growing spring- 

 time are very small at the close of the year, 

 and packed away in well protected buds. 

 Winter is a period of comparative rest to all 

 outdoor plants in our climate. The leaf is 

 the laboratory in which those chemical 

 changes take place that raise the inorganic 

 compounds up to the plane of organic sub- 

 stance. During the season of growth the 



crude sap, taken from the soil by the 

 fibrous roots, is transformed in the leaves, 

 under the influence of sunlight, into starch, 

 oil, sugar, etc., and these afterward pass to 

 the growing parts and there furnish the 

 material out of which the plant is built. 

 The atmosphere furnishes some of the ma- 

 terial used in the leaf factory ; in fact, a large 

 part of the solid substance is made up of 

 carbon (charcoal), which is taken up from 

 the surrounding air by the leaves. 



The above imperfect summary of some of 

 the leading facts in vegetable physiology 

 are given as an introduction to the question: 

 Shall we transplant trees in autumn f From 

 the intimate relation of the growing plant to 

 the soil by means of its young roots and to 

 the atmosphere through the tender foliage, 

 it is to be expected that a change of a tree 

 from one place to another would result in 

 injury. This reasoning is abundantly sub- 

 stantiated by experience. Trees suffer least 

 in transplanting when they are least dis- 

 turbed in their vital functions by the opera- 

 tions; and, therefore, the time to set an 

 orchard or establish a fruit garden is either 

 in the autumn after the season of growth is 

 closed, or in spring, before the vital forces 

 have become active. The winter, with its 

 intense cold, frozen ground, depth of snow, 

 etc., cuts the season of transplanting in two. 

 Sometimes this division is made close to the 

 beginning; at other times near the middle 

 and frequently near the end of the inactive 

 portion of the year. The winter may be, 

 so to speak, prolonged at both ends, so that 

 transplanting in the fall is almost impossible, 

 and in the spring must be done in a short 

 space of time. 



It can be seen by the above that an un- 

 qualified "yes" or "no" cannot well be 

 given to the question in hand. Fall plant- 

 ing can be done whenever there is sufficient 

 time for the work after the season of growth 

 closes, and before the ground becomes 

 frozen. The soil during this period, usually 

 the last of October and the early part of 

 November, is still warm with the heat of the 

 summer sun and usually contains the proper 

 amount of moisture. The soil is in every 

 way most favorable for the setting of trees, 

 and the weather for doing this work is the 

 best which the whole year affords. 



But how is it with the trees ? They are 

 through growing, and the leaves are either 

 fallen or ready to be removed from the 

 branches. There is no danger of the buds 

 unfolding for months to come. The tree is 

 in every way ready to be moved, and besides, 

 as a general thing, there is a plenty of time 

 to do the work well ; a point which cannot 

 be claimed for the spring with its hurry of 

 pressing work. 



If the setting is done in the fall, it should 

 not be until the growth is completed. This 

 is known by the formation of a distinct 

 line between the leaf and the stem. Leaves 

 often remain hanging to the branches long 

 after this work is finished. When satisfied 

 that the work is finished, the leaves should 

 be removed from the tree while it is being 

 transplanted. They expose an evaporating 

 surface, and this means an undue draft upon 

 the roots for moisture. The roots must 

 adjust themselves to their new situation 

 and need all their energies extended in this 

 direction. The fall-set roots will get sooner 

 ready for an early start in the spring. 



Dr. B. D. Halsted. 



