243 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
MULTIPLYING STRAWBERRY PLANTS. 
Its flavor is not first-rate, and it lias a very large 
core, or “ hollow where the core ought to he." This 
hollowness was noticed by us the first season it 
was exhibited, but this year we have examined 
specimens from a half dozen different cultiva¬ 
tors and find them uniformly solid. Perhaps 
culture makes the difference. The chief faults 
with this plant are, that it docs not hold up its 
fruit, and it is pistillate, but it is very product¬ 
ive and maybe set down as good. 
Empress Eugenie. —Solid, juicy and very acid. 
It coxcombs badly, and is generally considered 
as not worth cultivating. 
Agriculturist. —Sufficient has been said of this 
fruit in last month’s paper. As combining every 
good quality it has not its equal among na¬ 
tive or imported fruits. We have seen no 
large berry which can compare with it for fla¬ 
vor, solidity, hardiness, and productiveness, 
Buffalo Seedling. —A single specimen grown 
in a pot was exhibited by Francis Brill of New¬ 
ark, N. J., who thinks it not different from the 
Russell. It is not fair to judge of it from what 
we have seen. It appeared to be a medium 
sized, solid, juicy berry, and the plant had a fair 
show of fruit for one of its size. 
Fillmore. —This is thought highly of by some. 
As exhibited here, it is a fair, sweet fruit, rather 
lacking in flavor, with a hollow core. 
Lady Finger. —This as shown by Mr. Williams 
was quite different from a berry of the same 
name from Mr. Heins, which last the Committee 
decided to be Scott’s Seedling. The berry shown 
by Mr. W. is of a good conical shape, remarka¬ 
bly heavy, nearly solid, and of excellent flavor; 
with him it is a good beaier and ought to be an 
excellent market fruit. 
Bartlett. —The same doubt rests over this as 
over the Union. Mr. Fuller and others consider 
it the same as the Boston Pine while some re¬ 
gard it as a distinct varietv, and an equally dif¬ 
ferent opinion is held with regard to its bearing 
qualities. It is of good size, tolerably solid, of 
a very high flavor, and a3 far as the fruit is con¬ 
cerned, it is first class. 
Yicomptesse Herhart He Thury. —An ugly name 
for a good fruit The berry shows a slight 
tendency to become coxcombed, it is of good 
size, and of a high and peculiar flavor. It is a 
fine bearer, and likely to become a favorite. 
Ward's Favorite. —An old fruit, but not much 
disseminated. It is pistillate, of medium size, 
rich and sweet, a little dry, a moderate bearer. 
Green Prolific. —One of Mr. Boyden’s Seed¬ 
lings. Very productive, but pistillate; of a 
globular form, solid, a little soft, and, from the 
specimens shown, rather acid, but well flavored. 
Brooklyn Scarlet. —One of the Tribune berries, 
and twice took the first prize for flavor. It 
has a fine shape, surface, and color, and being 
a good bearer, will probably become a favorite. 
Meads Seedling. —A conical, medium sized ber¬ 
ry, not very firm, but of good flavor. Pistillate. 
Emily. —A seedling by Prof. Huntsman, which 
took a prize at the Exhibition. We saw only 
the Exhibition specimens, which were of good 
size, rather soft, acid, but of very high flavor. 
Monitor. —A great bearer, and a solid berry, 
but as the specimens were not well ripened, 
we could net fairly judge of the quality. 
Eonneur de la Belgique. —Very much mal-form- 
ed and grown in all sorts of shapes; good, oth¬ 
erwise. A poor grower, and not a good bearer. 
Lonning's White. —Best of the white berries. 
The fruit gets a strong blush in the sun. 
Wppowan —This is a seedling by J. W. Faulk- 
ener, Stamford, 
Conn. This has 
the general ap¬ 
pearance of the 
Austin. It is a 
large, soft, cox¬ 
combed fruit, of a 
very good flavor. 
Marguerite. — A 
well shaped fruit, 
with a very rough 
surface, and on- 
ly fair in flavor. 
Progress .—A hol¬ 
low, roundish ber¬ 
ry, not well flav¬ 
ored, it is quite 
late, and said to 
be a good bearer. 
Triomnlie de Gand. 
.—This in some lo¬ 
calities sustains its 
high reputation, 
though we hear 
complaints of its bearing qualities, and know of 
its being abandoned in other quarters. It needs 
high*culture, and where it does well it is found a 
profitable market fruit, as it brings a high price. 
Its firmness is one of its best qualities; it bears 
transportation to a great distance. When large, 
it is of a bad shape, and its peculiar flavor 
is disliked by some. Still it has many good qual¬ 
ities, and it retains its place as a standard variety. 
Wilson. —Hard, very prolific, sour, as picked 
for market, but when fully ripened is of fair 
quality. One of the best for field culture. It 
becomes of a dingy color and the hulls black¬ 
en a few hours after picking, which peculiarities 
are against it as a market fruit, still it is more 
generally cultivated around New York than 
any other of the large varieties. 
Austin .—A good bearer, rather late, stands 
drouth well and yields large and showy fruit, 
which is often coxcombed. Good family fruit, 
but too soft for marketing at a distance, it 
soon bruises and loses what little flavor it has. 
Producing Strawberry Plants. 
Those who can get plants enough to set out a 
bed have only to select good garden soil, not 
too stiff, spade it deeply, and if not already rich, 
work in a dressing of barn-yard manure; or if 
the soil is sandy and deficient in vegetable mat¬ 
ter, a supply of muck or leaf mould should be 
added. In garden culture beds four feet wide 
with walks between them two feet in width, are 
found to answer the best. Three rows of plants 
are to be put upon such a bed, one row down 
the center, and a row at eighteen inches distant 
upon each side of the center row; this will 
leave the outer rows six inches from the edge of 
the bed. The plants are to be set eighteen inch¬ 
es apart. This will allow of weeding and all 
other operations connected with their culture 
without trampling the soil around the plants. 
In field culture the plants should be set in rows 
which are sufficiently far apart to allow the use 
of the cultivator or horse hoe. Two and a half 
feet will be found to be about the proper dis¬ 
tance with the plants a foot apart in the rows. 
But this article was intended for those who get 
a few plants and wish to multiply them as rap¬ 
idly as possible. Those who receive the Agri¬ 
culturist plants as well as those who wish to 
make a beginning with other kinds, desire to 
know how to make the most of a few plants. 
We hope that there will be no reader of the 
American Agriculturist who has sufficient ground 
to make a bed who will consent that his family 
shall be without this most delicious fruit. If 
any one has applied to receive the Agriculturist 
plant, he will get it early next month, and 
will have a point to start from; or he may instead 
of this, or in addition to it, order from a nursery¬ 
man a few plants ot any desirable variety. The 
postal facilities are now such, that a dozen or 
more plants can go by mail at a very small ccst. 
If one or more plants can be had in good condi¬ 
tion, then a future stock is secure, for with proper 
management they can soon be multiplied many 
hundred fold. When plants are received, un¬ 
pack them at once, and pick off the decayed 
leaves, if there be any. If the bed is not ready, 
put the roots in moist soil, in a shady place. 
It is to borne in mind that where there are a 
few plants, the object is to multiply them as rap¬ 
idly as possible, and a different treatment is 
required than for those which are to bear 
fruit next year. To produce new plants, it is 
best to make the soil very rich with barn-yard 
manure, spaded in and put upon the surface. 
Having prepared the ground in this way, wheth¬ 
er for one plant or several, the next thing is to 
set out the plants. Two feet apart each way is 
none too far for plants in a propagating bed. In 
setting out the plants, it must be borne in mind 
that there is a right way and a wrong way 
about every thing. One man will take a sin¬ 
gle plant aad make a hundred or more from it, 
while others will fail altogether. The setting 
out of the plants requires care; the roots may 
be stuck into the ground and the plant may 
grow, but to be sure of it, it is best to take a 
little pains. To set out a strawberry plant, make 
a shallow hole four or five inches in diameter, 
and as deep as the length of the roots. In the 
center of this hole make a little hillock and set 
the plant upon it, letting the roots extend down 
the sides of the hillock, and then fill up with 
rich soil, taking care that the crown of the 
plant is not covered, and also to leave the whole 
far enough above the general surface to allow 
for the settling of the earth. As several have 
asked how strawberries are propagated, we have 
had an engraving made from a living plant to 
illustrate the peculiar manner of its growth. 
When the plant gets well established it will 
form runners, which are long branches, so weak 
that they lie upon the ground, each having a 
bud at the end. This bud, in contact with the 
soil, will form roots, throw up a tuft of leave*, 
