Directions for the culture of the strawberry will vary with
circumstances; as, whether it is raised for private use, or for
market. But, for whatever purpose cultivated, respect must be
invariably had to the fact of staminate and pistillate flowers, or
male and female. Each flower contains the rudiments of both the male
and female organs. But the male organs are more or less defective in
one set of plants and the female in another “and, in the Hudson and
some others, it amounts to a complete separation of the sexes. In some
of the male (staminate) varieties more or less of the blossoms are
also partially perfect in the female organs and will produce some
fruit.
“Every flower contains both the male and female organs; and,
in the white and monthly, both organs are always perfect in
the same blossom, as far as my experience goes. In other
kinds, the male organs are more or less defective in one set
of plants, and the female in the other; and, in the Hudson
and some other varieties, it amounts to a complete
separation of the sexes. The male organs are so defective in
one set of plants, and the female in the other, that an acre
of either would not produce a single fruit. In some of the
male (staminate) varieties, more or less of the blossoms are
also more or less perfect in the female organs, and will
produce more or less fruit; but I have never seen a female
plant with the male organs sufficiently developed to produce
a single perfect fruit. Hovey’s seedling, and some others,
may produce deformed berries.”—_Longworth._
Mr. Longworth, in consequence of this fact, always has a compartment
allotted to male and one to female plants, and out of these he forms
his beds, being able thus to insure a proper proportion of males to
females. Mr. S. S. Jackson, a very skillful nurseryman of Cincinnati,
usually, in selling plants, puts up ninety females to ten males in the
hundred.
We shall now give the time and manner of planting of some of the best
cultivators in the West, at the East, and in England.
Mr. Jackson says: “I plant any time from the first of April,
till they are in bloom. I, one year, planted twenty-five
square roods of ground; the plants were all in bloom when
set out; and the next year I picked thirty-eight bushels,
and there were fully ten bushels left on the vines.
“I plant them in this way: first plow or spade the ground;
harrow it smooth; then strain a line on one side nine inches
from the edge, and a row from twelve to fifteen inches
apart; then move the line eighteen inches, and plant another
row; then move it three feet, and again eighteen inches—and
so on till the ground is planted. I then go over and put one
male plant every six feet, between the two rows. Keep them
clear of weeds through the summer, and let them spread as
much as they will.
“In the fall dress the out-walks eighteen inches wide, which
will leave the beds three feet wide; and when it sets in
cold, give them a light covering of straw; rake it off in
the spring. You may then expect a full crop. It is best to
make a new bed once in two or three years.”
But plantations may be made through the summer, and as late as
September; of course, the earlier in the season the better established
the plants will become before winter, and the larger the next summer’s
crop. Thus, a bed formed in September would bear very scantily; while
Mr. Jackson’s beds, formed in the spring, produced a large crop the
next season.
Mr. Kenrick gives the following methods as practised by market
gardeners near Boston; the first one strikes us as being the most
economical way of working strawberries, on a large scale, that we have
seen:
“In the vicinity of Boston, the following mode is often
adopted. The vines are usually transplanted in August. The
rows are formed from eighteen inches to two feet asunder.
The runners, during the first year, are destroyed. In the
second year, they are suffered to grow and fill the
interval, and in the autumn of that year, the whole old rows
are turned under with the spade, and the rows are thus
shifted to the middle of the space. The same process is
repeated every second year.
“Another mode, which may be recommended generally, is to
plant the strawberries in rows thirty inches asunder, and
nine inches distant in the row, and suffer the vines to
extend to the width of eighteen inches, leaving twelve
inches’ space for an alley; or allow eighteen inches’ width
to the alleys, and three feet asunder to the rows; and to
form new beds every three years, or never to suffer the bed
to exist over four years; and to plant out in August in
preference to spring.”
Dr. Bayne of Alexandria, D. C., gives his method of producing very
large fruit. The peculiarity of his treatment is the use of
undecomposed or green manure. Almost every other cultivator recommends
_well rotted_ manure; and, we are inclined to think, with the better
reason. We have found some English cultivators who agree with him; but
the most dissuade from the practice, as making plants productive of
leaves rather than fruit.
“To produce strawberries of extraordinary size for
exhibition, I would recommend the following preparation:
select the best soil and trench it at least two feet deep;
incorporate well with the first twelve inches an abundance
of strong undecomposed manure; pulverize and rake the ground
well, then mark off the rows twelve or fifteen inches
asunder, and set the plants in the rows from twelve to
fifteen inches, according to the luxuriance and vigor of the
variety. During the first year, the runners must be
carefully and frequently destroyed before they become
rooted. By this means the stools become very vigorous and
bear the most abundant crops. In the spring after the fruit
is set, place around each plant a small quantity of straw,
or what is much better, cover the whole surface of the
ground one inch thick with wheat chaff. This prevents
evaporation, protects the fruit from the earth, improves the
flavor, and will greatly increase the size.”
Loudon gives Garnier’s method of treating the strawberry as an
_annual_. It is peculiarly applicable to small gardens. The
observations on the depth of soil required, are worthy of especial
attention:
“Early in August, or as soon as the gathering is over, I
destroy all my beds, and proceed immediately to trench,
form, and manure them in the manner before directed, to
receive the plants for the crop of the ensuing year, taking
care to select for that purpose the strongest and
best-rooted runners from the old rejected plants. If at this
season the weather should be particularly hot, and the
surface of the ground much parched, I defer the operation of
preparing my beds and planting them till the ground is
moistened by rain. Such is the simple mode of treatment
which I have adopted for three successive years, and I have
invariably obtained upon the same spot, a great produce of
beautiful fruit, superior to that of every other garden in
the neighborhood. Depth of soil I have found absolutely
necessary for the growth and production of fine
strawberries, and when this is not to be obtained, it is
useless, in my opinion, to plant many of the best varieties.
It is not generally known, but I have ascertained the fact,
that most strawberries generate roots, and strike them into
the ground, nearly two feet deep in the course of one
season. The practice of renewing strawberry plantations
every year, and even of using runners of the current year
for forcing, is now become very general among gardeners. Mr.
Knight generally adopts this mode, and, notwithstanding the
increased labor attending it, it is even adopted by some
market-gardeners about London for their earliest crops. It
is invariably found that by this mode the fruit not only
comes larger, but somewhat earlier. It must always be
recollected, however, by those who intend practising it,
that almost the whole of the success depends on bringing
forward the earliest runners, by encouraging them to root.
This is done by stirring the soil beneath them, hooking them
down, or retaining them in their proper places by small
stones; or, when the object is to procure plants for
forcing, rooting them into small pots.”