356 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
that the plants are not thrown out by frost, especially on 
heavy soils. This may be prevented by treading the soil 
closely about the roots before the ground becomes fro¬ 
zen. Such beds will bear some fruit the summer follow¬ 
ing the transplanting, and will furnish an abundant sup¬ 
ply the second season. The alpines produce well in one 
year. 
The only exception to this mode of increasing, is the 
Bush Alpine, which never increases by runners; the only 
way for this variety is dividing the root, and transplant¬ 
ing as above described. 
Strawberries are only propagated from seed for produ¬ 
cing new varieties, except the woods and alpine, which, 
says Loudon, (( come regular from seed, and bring a finer 
fruit than from offsets.” 
Soil and Situation. The best soil for the strawberry is 
a deep rich loam, though it will succeed and bear on any 
soil which is fertile. The situation should be open and 
well exposed to light and air. It succeeds very well 
when planted in single rows as edgings. The alpine and 
wood strawberries may be placed in a more shady situa • 
tion than the others; it is during hot and dry seasons of 
the year that they are intended chiefly for bearing. They 
are consequently well adapted to edgings for shrubbery. 
When the soil is rich, the advantages of employing 
strawberries for edging is great, as they succeed in such 
soils much better when in single rows than when crowd¬ 
ed together in a bed. 
General Culture. A very general error is to plant too 
near together, especially if the soil be fertile and well 
prepared. Thorough culture is by far the best, at the 
same time that it is, ultimately, the cheapest method. It 
is true that on common rich garden soils, a bed may be 
transplanted which will produce fine fruit and good crops 
with little care after once prepared; we have known beds 
to yield plentifully which were almost untouched for 
years, not even having been weeded, the thick growth 
of the strawberry keeping down in a great measure, evei-y 
thing else. But by the following thorough mode, or one 
similar, pi-acticed by Keen of Isleworth in England, who 
first raised the celebrated variety known as Keen’s seed¬ 
ing, the greatest amount of fruit may doubtless be ob¬ 
tained for the care and labor expended, while the quality 
is greatly superior. The soil for this mode of culture,: 
should be plowed or trenched dee]), and mixed with de-li 
composed stable manure; if the s bsoilbe somewhat ste-1 
rile, it should not be thrown to the surface. The ground! 
should be prepared at least a month before transplanting. 
i’ne best way,” s«ys Keen, “ to obtain new plants, is, 
by planting out runners xn a nursery, for the express pur¬ 
pose, in the previous season; for it is a very bad plan to 
supply new plantations from old plants.” The distances 
of the rows asunder are about two feet, and eighteen 
inches in the row, for the large varieties, as Methven 
and Keen’s seedling; the smaller vaideties may be a lit¬ 
tle nearer. This distance may seem too great, but it is 
necessai-y for sun, air and culture. “ These large disran- 
dung is not required; for in some rich soils it would 
cause the plants to turn nearly all to leaf. I have also to 
remark, that the dung used for manure, should not 
be too far spent; fresh dung from the stable door 
is preferable to spit dung, which many persons are 
so fond of.” The writer has found great advantage, 
both as a matter of economy of labox’, and for the 
increase of productiveness, to set out sti’a wberries in long 
rows about two or two and a half feet apart, and ten inch 
es apart in the rows, so that they may be cultivated with 
a horse. The difference between suffering a bed to be¬ 
come thickly matted over, and keeping the plants or hills 
well hoed separately, is almost incredible to one who has 
not seen it. A half pint of the lai-gest and finest straw¬ 
berries from one hill is easily thus produced. 
The strawberi’y, though never dioecious, from an im¬ 
perfection in the fructification contains fertile and barren 
flowers in most varieties, except the Alpine and Wood. 
The barren plants are the most vigorous and productive 
of new plants; and in some cases will overrun and crowd 
out the fertile ones. Hence the unproductive state of ma¬ 
ny beds of fine varieties where this has taken place. A 
few sterile plants, perhaps one-tenth, are necessary to 
cause fertility to the others; for the proper management of 
which, see an article on the culture of the strawberry on 
page 247, current volume of the Cultivator. 
In England, where the climate is much more moist and 
less hot than hei’e, decided advantage is found in watering 
strawbei’ries during hot weather. 
Beds, once prepared, generally continue in a good 
bearing state from three to five years. J. J. T. 
CAUSE OF ERGOT. 
Eds. Cultivator — I infer from your article on ergot 
in a former number of the Cultivator, that the late inves¬ 
tigations of M. Debourge on the cause of this curious 
phenomenon, have not fallen under your notice. I there¬ 
fore take the liberty to send you an account of them from 
the Home Examiner. 
The grains in which it appears fli’st, soften, become 
very friable, and undergo a species of fermentation, ex 
haling at the same time a very disagreeable smell. Their 
The soii for this mode of culture,||outer surface is now seen to be intersected with many 
small furrows, moistened by a whitish, viscous and sac¬ 
charine liquoi’, which reddens turn sol-paper. This liquor 
exudes in greatest quantity from the summit of the grain, 
where it agglutinates together all parts of the inflores¬ 
cence. At this period, the perisperm becomes every 
! where destroyed, except towards the summit, where it is 
11 .e cause of the greater consistence of the ergot. The 
iomer surface, previously white, now becomes brown, and 
|afterwards black, firs!, in the inferior portion, and then 
I throughout the rest of the grain. The furrows disappear, 
|the grain elongates, and it soon emerges from its ou.ee 
(covering (the glume) in 'all its distinctive characters. 
_ j _ _ v ____ __ _ j Thus, tlxe formation of the ergot presents two distinct 
ces,” says Keen, “I find necessai’y; for the trusses of "[epochs; the first comprising the destruction of the peris- 
fruit in my garden ground are frequently afoot long.” This 
fact is a sufficient proof of the excellence of his mode of 
culture. <£ After the beds are planted, I always keep 
them as clear of weeds as possible, and on no account 
allow any crop to be planted between the rows. Upon 
the growing of the runners, I have them cut when neces¬ 
sary; this is usually three times in each season. In the 
autumn I always have the rows dug between; for I find 
d refreshes the plants materially; and I recommend it to 
hose persons to whom it rnay be convenient, to scatter 
n the spring, very lightly, some loose sti’aw or long 
dung between the rows. It serves to keep the ground 
moist, enriches the strawberry, and forms a clean bed for 
the trusses of fruit to lie upon: and thus by a little extra 
trouble and cost, a more abundant crop may be obtained. 
A short time before the fruit ripens, I always cut off' the 
runners, to strengthen the root; and after the fruit is 
gathered, I have what fresh runners have been made, ta¬ 
ken off by a leaping hook, together with the outside 
leaves around the main plant, after which I rake the beds, 
then hoe them and rake them again. In the autumn, un¬ 
less the plants appear very strong, I have some dung dug 
between the rows, but if they are very luxuriant, the 
perm, the softening, and the saccharine fermentation of 
the grain; and the second, the period of its assuming its 
deep color and morbid enlargement. 
It was formerly supposed that the ergot was the result, 
jointly, of a mal-development of the germ, and the pre¬ 
sence of a parasitic fungus, which, though still hypothet¬ 
ical, has been denominated by some French authors, 
sphacelia segetum. But what was considered by these to 
be the fungus at the superior extremity of the grain, is 
now shown by M. Debourge to be only the umlestroyed 
portion of the perisperm, with some paid of the hairy 
epitheluim, the decayed stigmata, and sometimes anthers 
entire, agglutinated together by the viscous discharge. 
M. Debourge naturally asks how it is that a parasitic body 
should become marked with a similar longitudinal wrin¬ 
kle, and covered with the same hairy epitheluim, as the 
grain? The ergot invariably begins to form some time af¬ 
ter the inflorescence of the rye and other gramminse, and 
for the most part on the grains which are most tardy in 
their development. N. N. D. 
We ought either to be silent, or to say what is better 
than silence. 
