14 
ORCHARD 
GARDEN 
January, 1891. 
Talks of the Season. 
Covering: strawbei ry plants should be de- 
layed no later than this month for the cov- 
ering to be effective. The sun will daily be 
getting stronger and the thawing of the soil 
during the day. after freezing at night, will 
draw up the unprotected plants out of the 
ground, and expose the embryo fruit buds 
to freezing, which will certainly kill them. 
Hence it is necessary to cover strawberry 
and other plants of the kind in winter. It 
often happens that a variety is condemned 
for unproductiveness as inherent in itself 
when, if the facts of the case were known, 
it would be found entirely owing to the 
killing of the fruit buds. 
* * 
* 
As to the material for cover- 
ing strawberries there is much 
liberty. It being the intention 
to shade the plants and soil 
from the sun’s rays merely, and 
not to protect them from cold, 
there is no necessity for the 
covering to be heavy or very 
abundant. Indeed a very thick 
or heavy covering is not only 
unnecessary but positively in- 
jurious. It should be light and 
porous, and sufficient in quan- 
tity to cover up the plants and 
soil completely out of sight- 
For this purpose we know of 
nothing better than long, straw y 
stable manure which also serves 
to enrich the soil. Branches of 
hemlock and other evergreens 
are also excellent. Then there are salt hay, 
straw, lea' es, and light rubbish of many 
sorts. Leaves are not so good as some other 
materials because, in the first place, they 
are apt to blow aw ay at first unless secured 
by snow or otherwise weighted, and after 
they have become wet and thoroughly set- 
tled into place they form loo dense and 
compact a covering if applied in any con- 
sideiable quantity. 
* * 
* 
It is an excellent plan to haul out the 
coarse stable and barnyard manure in the 
winter and place one or two good forkfuls 
around each hill of raspberries and black- 
berries, and each bush of currants and 
gooseberries. The best time to do it is when 
the ground is frozen and the wheeling may 
be done without sinking in the soft earth. 
Break up the lumps with the fork and 
spread close around the plants; the freezing 
and thawing will disintegrate the manure 
and it will gradually enrich the soil. This 
saves the labor and time of rotting it into 
compost in heaps. We do not advise this 
application in winter to plants on steep hill- 
sides for in such locations the manure may 
be washed far away whilst the soil is frozen. 
The best mode of applying manure to plants 
so situated is to use well rotted compost 
and hoe it in. 
* * 
* 
Currant cuttings planted last fall will 
need looking after as the sun becomes 
stronger or they will be found some fine 
morning lying upon the ground, having 
been drawn entirely out of the soil with the 
frost. They should, properly have been 
entirely covered, when planted, with earth 
or coarse stable manure, to prevent this hap- 
pening. This applies equally to raspberries, 
blackberries, etc., planted last fall which 
should be kept covered with earth until all 
the frost is out in spring. Currants and 
gooseberries need a mound of soil around 
their stems to keep them securely in place. 
It will be found an advantage in severe 
winters, to lay down the canes of raspber- 
ries and pin them to the ground with a 
stone or lump of earth even if they are not I 
GOLDEN PROLIFIC GOOSEBERRY. 
covered. Cold dry winds are more injur- 
ious and killing than even intense freezing. 
* * 
* 
Nothing has yet superceded the Cuthbert 
as a red raspberry for mai-ket although it 
is beginning to develop faults in some local- 
ities that may cause it to fall from the high 
estimation in which it has thus far been held. 
Especially from the Hudson River fruit dis- 
trict do we hear much complaint. It seems 
to be winter killing and showing a lack of 
vitality. With this in mind fruit growers 
are looking around for another raspbei-ry to 
take its place. Marlboro is excellent where 
it succeeds and for an early berry of large 
size we have nothing better, but it cannot 
withstand hot suns or drought. At the North, 
and with canes laid down in winter, it is all 
that c an 1 e desired. Thompson’s Early Pro- 
lific is exceedingly early and prolific, hut 
the fruit is small as compared with Marl- 
boro and Cuthbeit. For general cultivation, 
with a view to home use and near market, 
we doubt very much if there is a better ear- 
ly red raspberry than the old Turner, the 
hardiest of all, withstands heat and drought 
well, always productive and the berries are 
large and sweet, but rather soft. Its grav- 
est fault is its intense suckering, the young 
plants coming up thicker than hair on a 
dog’s back. This evil becomes less, how- 
ever, after the first two years. The proper 
way to grow Turner for best results is to 
keep all suckers hoed down like weeds, cut 
back the canes in the spring, and mulch 
a rou nd the plants in hot locations. Such 
treatment will give large berries in abun- 
dance and it is then equal, if not superior, to 
any variety of the sort. 
* * 
* 
It is not so easy to make a selection of 
strawberi-ies, owing to the vast number cat- 
alogued, many of which are very good in- 
deed At the present time we may name 
among the best for general culture, Bu- 
bach’s No. 5, Warfield No. 2, Haverland, 
Eureka, Shuster’s Gtm. Gandy. These have 
been introduced within the last two orthree 
years. Amcng the old standard sorts there 
are a few that will always be in demand, 
more or less. Berries such as 
Chas. Downing, Cumberland, 
Kentucky, etc., are too valua- 
ble, especially for home use, to 
be readily discarded. Lovett’s 
Early is a fine early strawberry 
that will be introduced this 
spring and we have had consid- 
erable opportunity to see it in 
bearing and at other times. It 
seems to us that if it does as 
well elsewhere as it has done 
here it will be an exceeding 
profitable strawberry to grow 
for market and highly desira- 
ble for the family gaiden. We 
figured and described this 
strawberry in the August num- 
ber of Orchard and Garden. 
The fruit grower should keep 
himself posted concerning va- 
rieties and especially on new 
sorts, and for this purpose should not hesi- 
tate to obtain the latest catalogues of nur- 
serymen as issued. It is also not only inter- 
esting but often profitable to purchase a few 
plants of the new sorts and test them. 
Gooseberries for the Garden. 
Gooseberry growing has not been prac- 
tised in this counti-y to the same extent as 
in Europe and for the reason that our cli- 
mate does not possess equal facilities for its 
culture. Nor have we yet reached the im- 
provement in our native sorts desired and 
hoped for. There is little trouble in grow- 
ing Ameri :an varieties successfully. The 
best of them, and the most popular, is the 
Downing, a medium sized berry of pale 
green color, and of excellent quality. The 
bush is vigorous, hardy and stocky and 
little troubled with miklew. Almost, if not 
quite, as good is Smith’s Improved, of a 
more spreading habit of growth than Down- 
ing, equally vigorous and exceedingly pro- 
ductive. The fruit is medium in size, of a 
pale creamy-yellow and very good indeed. 
It, too, may be said to be fi'ee from mildew. 
The old, well-known Houghton has been 
pretty generally discarded on account of 
