FLANSBURGH & PEIRSON’S CATALOGUE. 
7 
to be injured by the hot sun or a 
sudden freeze before it can get green 
and tough again. But with watchful¬ 
ness and care they may be induced 
to ripen a week or ten days later, 
without the slightest injury; and this 
means profit for the grower as sure¬ 
ly as the extra-early berries that com¬ 
mence the season. The same variety 
will ripen earlier on a sunny exposure, 
and later on a level or northern slope, 
as the case may be, and there is still 
a greater difference with early and late 
sorts. The object is to keep the late 
sorts dormant by heavy mulching as 
late in spring as possible; and for this 
reason it should not be applied until 
the ground is frozen hard and deep; 
while, on the other hand, the sooner 
the mulch is on the early sorts before 
the ground freezes hard the quicker 
it will thaw out when it is removed, 
and the plants start to grow. 
A plant that has borne fruit is more 
or less exhausted with the effort, and 
can survive only by growing a new 
set of roots nearer thfe surface of the 
soil, and above the old roots, which 
become woody, and die. They ripen 
the second crop of berries a little 
earlier than the first; but it is not ex¬ 
pected that they will do as well as 
with their first great effort, even with 
the best after-treatment, which con¬ 
sists in mowing down the foliage im¬ 
mediately after fruiting, forking and 
shaking up the mulch as evenly as 
possible, and burning the whole patch 
over as soon as dry enough to burn 
rapidly, thus destroying weed seeds 
or any insect pests or disease that may 
have got among them; afterward cul¬ 
tivating between the rows, and cross- 
harrowing. A drag with teeth slant¬ 
ing backward is best. A dressing of 
ashes, commercial fertilizer, or fine 
manure, may be applied and culti¬ 
vated in, and in three or four weeks 
after fruiting, or sooner if it rains, 
if the job has been well done, the 
plants will be showing up green, and 
growing once again. 
Many of our customers who take 
much pride in growing the finest ber¬ 
ries and biggest crops would rather 
buy their plants of us each season 
than disturb their fine new bearing 
beds, even for their own resetting; 
and such a one, in referring you to us, 
is more your friend than he who gives 
permission to dig the little run-out 
See A B C of Strawberry Culture and 
plants of an old fruiting patch. These 
plants are but the effort of the parent 
plant to reproduce itself before it 
dies. They are small and weak and 
lack in fruiting vigor, if not diseased. 
They are degenerate, and should be 
destroyed as weeds that sap the parent 
plant. 
Pistillate varieties have imperfect 
blossoms, and will not fruit unless 
these blossoms are fertilized by the 
pollen that is carried by insects or 
the wind from staminate varieties, 
which have perfect bloom, and are 
self-fertilizing. A good way is to set 
two rows of staminates and two of 
pistillates, alternate, or one of stami¬ 
nate and two or three of pistillates; 
but a greater proportion than this 
with imperfact bloom is hardly safe, 
especially if the blossoming season 
should prove cold and wet. 
The only best time to set strawber¬ 
ries is in the spring, when the plants 
are fully grown, matured, and dor¬ 
mant; when the soil is moist and cool 
and there is more favorable weather 
generally. 
Don’t order strawberry plants by 
freight. We would rather give extra 
plants for prompt delivery by ex¬ 
press, for any difference in rate, than 
that our customers should receive 
them in any but the freshest possible 
condition. 
When the plants arrive, if your 
ground is not ready, untie the bunches 
and heel them in, the plants just far 
enough apart for the soil to press 
about the roots of each. Water and 
shade them if necessary. As soon as 
the soil will crumble in the hand, fit 
the ground deep and fine and firm. 
A little extra work right here will pay 
you double later on. Mark out in 
rows three to four feet apart for the 
narrow or broad matted row system, 
or 24 to 30 inches check rows for hill 
culture, so as to cultivate both ways. 
We set our plants with spades and 
follow quickly with the horse and cul¬ 
tivator, repeating the operation as 
many times throughout the season 
as is necessary to keep and hold the 
soil at all times loose and lively, hoe¬ 
ing among the plants nearly as often 
for the same purpose. Some growers 
advise setting the plants 15 inches 
apart for matted rows; but if the soil 
is in good heart, and it has been well 
fitted, and only No. 1 plants are used, 
this is pretty close for most varieties. 
other Valuable Books, inside Back Cover. 
