Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1862-07-03
d0lOteester Daily SPY
THEIR CULTURE AND IMPROVEMENT IN AM
ERICA

at the office Of the American Agriculturists in
this city few days ago-the finest, it is as
serted, that was ever held in this country
gave an opportunity to the curious to see how
numerous are the varieties, and to what per-
lection good culture has now brought this
fruit When we see such berries as the Due
de Malakof, Crimson Queen, LaConstant
Triomphe De Gand, Colonel Ellsworth or
Austin-large, glowing, finely favored all of
which, and one hundred and thirty-two other
varieties were shown-we hesitate no longer
to class the strawberry with small fruits But
also, looking at these berries, some of which
were as large as peaches, we wonder that the
market is still to so great an extent supplied
with small berries.
Within the last three or four years, how
ever, the improved varieties have become
more and more plentiful in the markets, and
they bring so much higher prices that they
will probably shortly supersede the little scar
let berry which is still sent in from New Jer-
sey in great quantities. Farmers are notor-
ously backward in adopting Improvements; if
they were not, they would long ago have dis
covered that it pays much better to give thor
ough cultivation to the best varieties of this
berry, and get from three to five hundred
bushels from an acre, than to set out the small
berry and let it take of itself, with the result
of only from twenty-five to fifty bushels per
acre.
The culture of strawberries is not at all diff
fcult; nor, where they are carefully tended,
is it costly. Ten years ago the practice
which still obtains-was to set out a patch,
and let it battle as it could with the weeds.
Now we find the most successful cultivators
setting out their plants in rows or hills, en-
rlchlng the soil, and giving them careful and
constant attention. This is one reason why
we have now SO many improved varieties.
But to the practice of trying for new kinds
by raising plants from seed we owe the great
est improvement Hoyey's seeding was the
first of the big strawberries; and it remained
for long time-until within five or six years
the only improved kind. No one cared to
take the trouble to raise seedlings, with the
chances of getting, after two or three years,
and out of perhaps thousand plants, one or
two good new varieties Most of the new va
rieties were the result of accident. They
were discovered in fence corners and by
chance-as indeed were also many Of our 9TH
er new fruits, such as the Seckel pear, the
Lawrence, our best winter pear, and the Buff
fun.
Five years ago the introduction of Wilson's
Albany gave a new impetus to strawberry Gull
ture in this country. This was also an acct
dental seeding. Since then the scientific cu-
ture of the fruit has made great progress, and
several hOrticulturists have taken pains to
raise new plants from seed. Mr.. A. S. Full
Ter, of the Brooklyn Nurseries, was the
foremost in this work. He has agitated in the
agricultural and horticultural journals the i'm
portance of the subject; he was the first to
publish an account of the best method of rails
ing Seeding plants, and did much to induce
persons to begin efforts at improving our IA
vorite berry.
HOW TO RAISE SEEDLINGS.
he OrOcpSS is 81 Simnlp that we will dpS-
cribe it here for the benefit of such of our
readers as take an intelligent interest in hor-
ticulture and may have it in their power to
attempt something in this direction. There
are two great rival species of the strawberry.
FragGria EirginianG and FTagn7lG Gran
dGora. The first is our North American
wild species, from which have been produced
the American improved varieties. The sec
ond is the South American species, from
which European hortculturists get their i'm
provements. The North American plant pro-
duces fruit of great productiveness, and of a
peculiar wild flavor, which makes it favor
lite. 1t thrives best with us, also. The Euro
pean varieties, from Fragag1N GrandifOra,
are of great SIZE moderately sweet, but they
have comparatively little aromatic flavor.
A horticulturist who desires to get a new
and improved seeding berry determines what
quality he desires to combine. He takes, for
instance, a plant of Wilson's Albany, which
is very prolific, with a berry of fair quality,
but rather acid. He plants beside it a sweet
variety of great size, but not very productive.
His object is to let one fertilize the other, and
thus combine the qualities of both. To Sc
cure his eud he removes the stamens from the
flowers OF one, as soon as they are open, and
tertilizes these flowers with the pollen of the
other. When the berries which are the result
OF this union are ripe, having prepared well
patch Of ground, half shaded, he mashes the
berries in his hand, and mikes them thorough
ly with dry sand sufficient to take up the
moisture. The mixture he sows, and sits
over it an eighth of an inch of fine mold
If the soil is kept moist the seeds will
sprout in from four to six weeks. The young
plants are covered lightly with straw the first
winter, and next spring are transplanted into
rows two feet apart and eighteen inches in the
rows. All runners are stopped this first sea-
son, and the beds kept very clean. The next
spring the plants bear; but their productive
ness and quality cannot be definitely deter
mined till the year after. Then an inspection
of the plants and fruit will enable the grower
to determine on the one or two varieties, out
of perhaps five hundred or one thousand
plants he has Mr.. Fuller states that, in his
first venture, of about four hundred seedlings
he found not one worth keeping. But he has
kept up constant succession; has fruited
and condemned from fifty to one hundred va
rieties every year for several years past; and
has raised altogether about one thousand va
rieties from seed. Out of this number he has
secured three new varieties which are SUI
perior.
Seedlings have tendency to run back. and
plant which bears promising fruit in its first
year may turn out small berries or a small
crop the next. When they have been fruted
three years and remain good they may be de-
pended on.
Though this seems tedious undertaking,
it must not be forgotten that seedlings are all
the time producing fruit Of some kind, sutfi-
cient for use, and quite as good as the aver
age berries in the market; and the Jealous
hortculturst has the hope before him, that in
the end he may originate some new variety
which shall be superior to all its competitors.
1t should be remembered that the seedlings
exhibit, to some extent, the phenomena Of
male and female flowers. All these should
be thrown aside. They are too much trouble
Only the biseNual plants are worth cultiyat-
ing. The Others to be fruitful, must be
planted in a particular order, one row of male
and unproductve plants for two rows of pis-
tlllates and this is too much trouble. The
bisexual plants need no such discrimination.
In commerce, too, the pistillates and stamin-
ates are apt to be confused in the nursery, to
the detriment OF the purchaser, who gets inn
pure where he desires pure varieties
10 Gl4. lt..u.r