Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1860-02-25
strawberry Culture.

The management of Yale College have
recently had delivered in that institution, a
course of Lectures on Agriculture and Hor.
ticulture, and by some of the most expert
enced cultivators Of the country The sug-
gestions below in regard to the cultivation
Of the Strawberry are from one of these
Lectures.
Mr. r. G.. Pardee, of New. York CITY,
gave bis FIRST lecture this afternoon on the
Strawberry. He came, he said, to speak
of facts, not theories. He had tried TO
grow Strawberries by high culture, but
without success. He determined to expert
ment till he should discover the cause Of
the failure. He had and could
grow them as cheaply as potatoes The
following, according to my experience is
the best method /: Select warm moist,
but exposed situation for early berries,
let it slope TO the East or South for late
ones, to the North. The soil should be
fne, gravelly loan. Avoid high, barren
soils, and those which are wet. To prepare
the soil, make it clean underdrain, leav-
ing the drain open at both ends to allow
| the circulation of air. Pulverize at least
two feetin depth, making 10 per cent of
the soil as fine as superine -four. For ma
nures, apply 80 bushels of uneached ashes
and IL bushels of lime Stacked with water
holding three bushels of salt in solution, to
the acre. Transplanting should be done
with great care, and the rootlets of the
plant injured as little as possible. The
best time to transplant is in the Spring,
though with care it may be done any time
during the Summer.
The lecturer said he would, in starting
new bed, place the plants three feet apart
each way, and allow them to spread till
they were only twelve inches from each 9TH
er, Nearer than that they should never
grow. The beds should be muched with
tan-bark, straw, or some such material to
the depth of half an inch no more
This keeps down weeds; and keeps all but
the strongest runners from taking root
Water may be added with great advantage
in large quantities except during the flow
ering or ripening periods, provided always,
it does not stand aud become stagnant on
the soil. After this preparation little at
tention is needed The hoe should never
be used about the plants, as it Injuries the
roots. Field culture differs little from gar.
den culture The productiveness of the
strawberry about New Y ork docs not aver
age more than 40 bushels to the acre.
There is no difficulty in raising $50 bushels
under the cultivation he recomenced. In
the winter the plauts should be lightly COW
cred.
The strawberry may I've made ever-bear-
ing by entirely preventing the growth of
runners. This may be done by planting in
soil composed of three-quarters river sand,
and one quarter woods-mould. This dwafs
the plant and makes it ever-bearing. The
staminate and pestilate plants need not be
grown within thirty or forty feet of each
other Seedlings are early raised The
analysis of the plant differs in different pla-
ces. The best six varieties are Wilson's
Seeding, Hooker's Seeding, Lougworth's
Prolific, HoVey's Seeding, and Burr's New
Pine. There are others nearly as good
Wilson's Seeding is very prolific $50 Der.
ries, many of them large ones, have been
grown from single plant.