The Florida agriculturist., 1889-01-09

carefully watched and not allowed to
drop more than one plant ahead of the
settlers at time. This is especially i'm
portant if the sun is shining and the
ground hot. In damp, or cool, cloudy
weather it does not matter so much if
the dropper is allowed to get some dis
tance ahead If the second point of
pressing the earth firmly about the roots
is not carefully attended to, the plants
are sure to dry out and die Probably
more plants are lost every year from this
cause than from any other.
After the plants are set out the bed
should be kept clear of weeds, and as
often as the surface becomes beaten down
solid by the rains it should be loosened
up by cultivating or hoeing. If the grow
er keeps no horse, he will find that good
hand cultivator will be a great help. AS
much work can be done in one day with
good hand cultivator as can be done in a
week with a hoe.
If it is possible to mulch the rows just
before the plants begin to blossom, it
will be found to be a great advantage to
the crop. For this purpose the best ma
terial, where it is available, is pine straw.
Next comes forest leaves from the ham
mocks. If neither are to be had, then
grass may be cut and used for the pur-
pose. A good heavy mulch tends to pre-
vent the packing of the soil by rains,
keeps the surface moist and prevents in
jury by slight drouth and last, but by
no means least, it keeps the fruit off the
ground so that the berries do not get
sandy. Where beds are not mulched
the berries are covered with sand after
every rain, and often it is nearly or quite
impossible to remove it without seriously
injuring the market value of the fruit
Some growers object to mulching, claim
ing that it makes the crop later. If the
mulch is not put on until the first bios
SONS begin to appear, it will not seri-
ously hinder the ripening of the early ber-
ries. On the other hand the advantages
above mentioned are so great as to more
than balance the account Do not put
on the mulch while the plants are in full
bloom If the work cannot be done be-
fore any except few scattering blossoms
have appeared, it should be delayed until
the blossoms have fallen and the fruit has
set. So also if you cultivate with horse,
great care should be taken not to culti-
vate while in full bloom. If earth or
straw or any such substance falls upon
blossom, just as it opens and before the
pistils are fertilized by the pollen from the
anthers, some OF the pistils are sure to be
injured SO that the pollen cannot fertilize
them. The result is an imperfect spot on
the berry, and if many of the pistils were
injured, it might cause such a serious de-
formity as to render the berry unmarked
able. AS the pistilsina a blossom are very
small and very close together, very
small bit of earth may ruin the berry.
In picking fruit for market it should al
ways be dry, and never gathered when
wet with dew or rain. 1T must not be
over-ripe or it will spoil before it reaches
market. Neither should it be picked
while there is yet green side to it.
Strawberries, like grapes, never improve
in quality after they are gathered. A
strawberry which has begun to turn red
on all sides, though still very light col
ored, will grow darker in color, if kept a
few hours, and will look ripper, though the
flavor is no better. But if there is green
side on the fruit when it is picked it will