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 FRAGARICULTURE; 
 
 OR THE 
 
 CULTURE 
 
 or THE 
 
 STRAWBERE 
 
 A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE 
 
 Culture, Propagation, Management and 
 Marketing of Strawberries. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 With Photographs, representing Average Size of Best Varieties. 
 
 ESPECIALLY ADAPTED TO THE FAMILY Gy\RDEN. 
 
 BY FELIX GILLET, 
 
 NEVADA CITY, - - CALIFORNIA. 
 
 SPAULDING & BAETO, STEAM BOOK AND JOB PRINTEES, 
 
 414 Clay Street, below Sansome, San Francisco. 
 1876. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Fragariculture 5 
 
 Description 5 
 
 Varieties. 
 
 Selection 
 
 The Soil 
 
 Preparation of the Soil 
 
 Manures 
 
 Time of Setting Strawberries. 
 
 Setting out Strawberries.. . . 
 
 Culture in rows and hills. 
 
 Matted row System 
 
 Mulching . 
 
 Irrigation 
 
 Care of Plants after Setting. . 
 
 Propagation 
 
 Propagation by Seed 
 
 Ke-setting ] 3 
 
 Exposure 14 
 
 Annual Varieties 14 
 
 Biennial Varieties 15 
 
 Everbearing, or Wood Varie- 
 ties 16 
 
 Bush- Alpine Varieties 16 
 
 Staminate and Pistillate Plants, 17 
 Hybridization 18 
 
 Page. 
 
 Forcing Strawberries 18 
 
 Care to Plants forwarded by 
 
 Mail 20 
 
 Duration of Strawberry Beds 20 
 Mode to Perpetuate Strawberry 
 
 beds . 21 
 
 How to make Strawberries last, 21 
 Spring Work on Strawberry 
 
 beds 21 
 
 How to raise very large Fruit, 22 
 How to pick and keep Straw- 
 berries 22 
 
 Packing and Shipping 23 
 
 Insects injurious to Strawber- 
 ries , 23 
 
 Maladies of the Strawberry ... 25 
 The Art of Preparing Straw- 
 berries 26 
 
 Preserving Strawberries 27 
 
 Medicinal Properties of Straw- 
 berries . . '. 28 
 
 General Hints on Fragaricul- 
 ture 29 
 
 Explanation of Photographs 
 and List of best Varieties of 
 Strawberries 30 
 
FRAGARICULTURE ; 
 
 OR THE 
 
 CULTURE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 STEAWBERRT. 
 
 A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE 
 
 Culture^ Propagation, Management and 
 Marketing of Strawberries. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 With Photographs, represent ing Average Size of Best Varieties. 
 
 ESPECIjlLLY ADAPTED TO THE F/MILY GyARDEN. 
 
 — ^ 
 
 , .T' BY FELIX GILLET, 
 
 '^ {\ V NEVADA CITY, - - CALIFORNIA 
 
 SPAULDING & BARTO, STEAM BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS, 
 
 412 Clay Street, below Sansonie, San Francisco. 
 1876. 
 
Entered accordir.g to the Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by 
 
 FELIX GILLET, 
 
 In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 -f,'^'*'^ 
 ^^\^^ 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 A lively interest in the culture of small fruit has been 
 steadily and of late developing itself on both sides of the 
 Atlantic and in this most privileged region, California — 
 that Garden of America — j^^^ple of small means finding in 
 that pleasant and light industry quite a remunerative profit 
 for their labor, and amateurs an ample reward for their en- 
 deavors in improving old varieties and originating new 
 ones. Bat the Strawberry, more than an}^ of the other 
 small fruits, has been unmistakably the great favorite over 
 all, and the one which has attracted the most attention 
 about its culture and ameliorations; so that to-day more 
 than 400 varieties, so different in shape, size and color, 
 are, in Europe and America, rivaling each other in berries 
 most beautiful, luscious and large. 
 
 The author of this little work, after a long j)i'actice and 
 thorough investigation of his subject, and when success 
 repeatedly crowned his efforts, as any one in Nevada City 
 can readily testify, offers to the public in general this short, 
 concise and practical treatise on the culture of the Straws- 
 berry, in the hope that this culture, as well and clearly 
 understood as described here, will induce people who have 
 a garden or land to that effect to improve their homes in 
 giving a place to this interesting plant, and raising, either 
 for their own table or market purposes, as large and nice 
 berries as those w^e are raising here every season. 
 
 A great deal, it is true, has been already written in pe- 
 riodicals on the Straw^berry; however, and particularly so 
 on this coast, there is a lack of information about its cul- 
 ture, and our task is simply to supply a want justly felt and 
 give an impetus to this most pleasant business. 
 
This treatise, we must say, is not precisely written to the 
 address of field-gTOwers who cultivate the Strawberry on a 
 large scale, but is rather intended for those people who do 
 raise strawberries for their own use or on a small scale for 
 a near market; though both, we are confident, will find in 
 it many hints of much profit or value to them. 
 
 Last, to render the work more attractive yet, we have 
 put ourselves to the costly exj)ense of illustrating it with 
 beautiful photographs, representing faithfully and — as' no 
 wood cuts could do — the average size and exact shape of 
 berries of the best known varieties. 
 
 We will, therefore, tell to you, gentle reader, read and 
 peruse our little book ; then go to work in your garden, 
 improve 3^our home by setting out Strawberry plants and 
 you will be munificently rewarded for your pains and in- 
 dustry by getting a bountiful supply of this most delicious 
 and popular of all fruits, and for a dish of which old Jove 
 and the gods had kicked the divine ambrosia, if, at that 
 time, America, which gave us the annual Strawberry, the 
 only one cultivated now-a-days, had been discovered. 
 
3 
 
 ALCQTT PINEAPPLE. 
 
Fragariculture. 
 
 The Strawbeny plant, in Latin Fragaria, is a native of 
 the northern hemisphere — ^Europe and America — and also 
 of the most southern parts of South America and the Mo- 
 luccas Islands, but with this difference, that the Wood, 
 Perpetual and Alpine varieties are all natives of Europe, 
 while the beautiftd scarlet annual varieties have originated 
 in America {Fragaria Virginiana), the white annual in 
 Chile, and Pineapj^le varieties in the Moluccas. 
 
 From the word Fragaria the French have made Fragari- 
 culture, the culture of the Strawberry; Fragariculturist, the 
 person that cultivates and raises Strawberries. Why 
 shouldn't we adopt in English those very words, as we did 
 already with Sericulture (the raising of silk), ViticuVure 
 (the culture of the grape), Viniculture (the manufacturing 
 of wine), and so forth ? This hint is humbly submitted to 
 all those interested in the culture of the Strawberry. 
 
 Description. 
 
 That beautiful and delicious little fruit, the very first one 
 to ripen in our latitude, is so w^ell known of every one that 
 a minute description of the fruit is needless. Let us say, 
 however, that, according to varieties. Strawberries take all 
 kinds of shapes, round, oblong, conical, triangular, flat, 
 etc., and all shades of red, from dark to light scarlet, from 
 crimson to a pale rosy tint. The pale-colored Strawberries 
 are generally the sweetest and best flavored ones; the lar- 
 gest are the Hybrids, obtained in crossing the White Chile 
 to the Virginia Scarlet and Surinam Pineapple varieties. 
 Annuals have the nicest flavor, but the W^ood, or Everbear- 
 ing, are the most fragrant. 
 
 Varieties, 
 
 Strawberries may be divided in two distinct families, the 
 Everbearing and Annual, each family dividing itself up 
 into species and each species into so many varieties. Under 
 their respective heads, we shall speak of each family sepa- 
 rately. 
 
G 
 
 There are already over 400 named varieties of Strawber- 
 ries both in Europe and America, differing mainly in the 
 size of plants, shape of leaves, number of runners, size, 
 color and shape of berries, time of ripening, etc. On the 
 37 varieties kept on our place, this difference is rather strik- 
 ing, more than anybody would expect at first sight from 
 such an insignificant little plant as the Strawberry. 
 
 Selection, 
 
 People starting Strawberry beds might be at a loss what 
 varieties to select among so many. Here is what we would 
 advise them to do: In the first place, get the address of a 
 conscientious, reliable nurseryman; leave it to him as to 
 the selection of varieties, but have very early, early, half 
 late and late sorts. Another point to which we call the at- 
 tention of all interested — that plants of an wferior variety 
 that cost but little are a great deal dearer than those of a 
 superior variety which have to be paid a big price; indeed, 
 the price of plants amounts to very little, for a dozen of 
 plants will give in the same season, through their runners, 
 hundreds of well-rooted plants. It is a very poor economy 
 to cultivate thoroughly a piece of land, manure it well, and 
 set plants of poor varieties because they are cheap. We 
 therefore advise people to procure, whatever the}^ cost, the 
 finest, largest and most productive varieties, and when ig- 
 norant about which are the best, to leave it to the nursery- 
 man, who has no interest at all in deceiving customers as 
 to the nicest varieties kept by him. 
 
 The Soil. 
 
 If we were asked in what kind of soil the Strawberry 
 thrives the best, we wouldn't be ver^^ apt to answer; but if 
 we were asked in what kind of soil it cannot grow, we 
 should be still more at a loss what to say. However, some 
 varieties do better in certain soils than others, yielding 
 larger crops and berries of a superior quality; anybody 
 will find that out by a two or three years' experience. 
 
 The Strawberry grows everywhere, at all exposures, in 
 every kind of soil ; though in calcareous, sandy and light 
 soil the fruit is better flavored and more delicate. A 
 southern ex230sure diminishes the quantity but imj^roves 
 the quality; that of the north, the reverse. This is as a 
 general rule; for here, in the foothills of the Sierra, we 
 have obtained enormous crops of well flavored berries 
 at all exposures. It is due likely to the clear sky of our 
 beautiful climate, the sun spreading constantly and lavishly 
 
its warm rays all round, causing, therefore, very little dif- 
 ference between both exposures. If having but very little 
 water to irrigate with , we would rather advise our Califor- 
 nia fragariculturists to give a northern, somewhat shady ex- 
 2)osure to their Strawl)erry beds. 
 
 Preparation of the Soil. 
 
 This is the most important point in Strawberry raising, 
 and the whole secret for us having succeeded so splendidly 
 on our barren hill The soil must be thoroughly broken 
 up, the depth varying according to its nature; if, for in- 
 stance, the surface ground is deep and soft, there is very 
 little work to do outside of plowing and spading; but when 
 that surface is only from six to twelve inches thick, and 
 hard withal, it is absolutely necessary to break up the soil 
 at a depth of eighteen inches. This is the way we do it : 
 If the piece of ground we want to break up is sloping, we 
 commence by the upper end, digging out a trench three 
 feet wide and eighteen inches deep, taking the dirt, with a 
 wheelbarrow, to the lower end of the field to till up the 
 last trench with; then we throw the dirt from the second 
 trench into that one just digged out, and so on to the end 
 of the bed, niveling up at the same time. This may be 
 called a costly way of preparing the soil, but we can prove 
 that it is really the cheapest. The advantages of having 
 the soil so broken up are, indeed, manifold: First, all the 
 weeds and seeds that covered the surface are entirely done 
 with, buried, as they are, over a foot in the ground; sec- 
 ondly, the roots of the Strawberry plants, having a chance 
 to plunge down into the good top dirt now in the bottom, 
 strong, luxuriant, healthy plants, with no vacancies at all, 
 soon cover with their green foliage the whole surface; 
 thirdly, the jolants will resist the summer's drought so 
 much'^better, their roots being able to run down as deep as 
 the soil has been broken up; fourthly, when irrigating— 
 and in California we have to resort to irrigation because of 
 the total absence of rain, through our dry and hot sum- 
 mers—the soil does hold the moisture better and longer 
 whether it is irrigated by immersion or submersion; by im- 
 mersion the water wdll go down first into the bottom, to rise 
 up, little by little, to the surface; by submersion, it will 
 run down ^from the surface clear to the deep bottom. 
 Strawberry beds so irrigated will stand a month of drought 
 without wilting any; at any rate, the deeper go the roots, 
 the stronger will the plants be, and the less manure and 
 water will they require. 
 
Manures. 
 
 This is almost as important an item in Strawberry grow- 
 in «' as the thorough culture and breaking up of the soil. 
 All kinds of manure will do for the Strawberry, though we 
 prefer well decomposed barn manure to any other. It is bet- 
 ter to have manure hauled up through the smnmer and 
 dumped into a hole and watered so that it will rot without 
 heating too much. Ashes, street-sweepings, etc., might be 
 mixed to common barn manure if the latter is scarce or high. 
 If fresh manure conld only be obtained when setting plants in 
 the fall, it would not make much difference, such manure 
 having time to rot in the ground during the winter. In 
 dry soil, a mixing up of horse and cow manure, or cow ma- 
 nure alone with ashes, or anything to bring moisture to the 
 ground, is very desirable. Liquid manure can be used with 
 much advantage, especially after the setting of young- 
 plants, but people must be very careful when using liquid 
 manure, which is very powerful and hot; to do it when the 
 plants are well and strongly rooted. This recommendation 
 applies to vegetables as well as to Strawberry plants. 
 Many persons, not knowing any better, give liquid manure 
 to their plants just a few days after setting. It is wrong, 
 and very often kills off the plants. 
 
 Time of Setting Strawberries. 
 
 Wherever it can be done— for in some parts of the 
 United States the intense cold of the winter prevents doing 
 it — the best time for setting out Strawberry plants is cer- 
 tainly the fall. In the first place, plants set out early do 
 grow good roots before the winter sets in, so that they can 
 stand well the frost. Then, with such a good start, they 
 will grow very stoutly the ensuing season; so much so that 
 the Biennial varieties (see that heading) will yield quite a 
 crop in the fall. Another good reason for setting out plants 
 in the fall, is that, at that time of the year, there is, on any 
 place, more leisure to do the work than in the spring, 
 when work crowds up from all sides. 
 
 When the plot to set out Strawberry plants has been 
 broken up during the winter, which is, in this State, the 
 best time of the year for doing it, it is well to manure it in 
 the spring and raise a crop of early j^otatoes or peas, corn, 
 etc., such crops in fact that can be taken out in or before 
 the fall; then manure it again, and set in the Strawberry 
 plants. This we found a good plan to pursue, for a newly- 
 broken-up ground is rather poor, and this raising of a crop 
 
preparatoiy to setting Strawberry plants makes up the soil, 
 and a new manuring renders it plent}^ rich enough for the 
 Strawberry- plants to thrive in it splendidly. 
 
 Setting out Strawberries. 
 
 The ground being well plowed and harrowed if a large 
 field, well spaded and leveled if a small one, all that has 
 to be done is to stretch out a cord so as to have the plants 
 set in straight rows; then, arming oneself wdth a gardener's 
 trowel, to go to work digging out rooted runners and plant- 
 ing them. Where the ground is stiff enough, it is best to 
 dig out the plants so that much of the dirt will stick to the 
 roots, forming like a little cube from 2 to 3 inches square. 
 If tlie ground was dry at the time, it would have to be 
 watered some before taking up the plants; the dirt would 
 then cut easier and stick better, too. When tbe ground is 
 light and sandy, plants have to be taken out just as they 
 come, with or without dirt sticking to the roots. Of course, 
 we are speaking of plants grown on one's place. Now as 
 to the setting out, when the plants have been taken up with 
 a sod of earth, all that has to be done is to dig out a little 
 hole with the trowel, stick the plant into it and fill up the 
 interstices Avith dirt. If the roots are loose it is best to dig- 
 out a little hole large enough for enabling to place in the 
 center a handful of earth, rounded up in a conical form, the 
 plant being set on the top of this little mound with the 
 roots well spread out. But never stick the plant in the 
 hole in a heap; better take a little more pains, do it right, 
 and not a single vacancy will occur. No matter how moist 
 is the ground, and the weather be cloudy or not, always 
 water Strawl^erry plants after setting. 
 
 Culture in Rows and Hills. 
 
 The row and hill system is certainly the best of all, 
 especially to raise large and line fruit. The rows should 
 be two feet apart, thirty to thirty-six inches if irrigating by 
 running water in each row like it is done in California. 
 The plants should be set, the large growing sorts two feet 
 from eacli other in the row, the smaller ones from twelve 
 to eighteen inches. 
 
 During the first year, as the plants take very little place, 
 a row of small vegetables ma}^ be raised between the rows 
 of Strawberry plants, such like onion, garlic, lettuce, etc. 
 
 The word "hill," used under this head, does not mean that 
 
10 
 
 the plants are set on a little mound; the term comes from 
 the particular manner Strawberry plants so grown are 
 treated, the runners being clipped off so thit the plants 
 stand by themselves as so many little hills. 
 
 Matted Row System. 
 
 This method is resorted to with certain varieties of Straw- 
 berries, or in places where it would offer some natural 
 advantages on the row and hill system. Plants have to 
 be set out in the same manner as described above, in rows 
 two feet apart, and a certain number of rows to every 
 matted bed; three feet of clear ground beitif? kept between 
 the beds. Runners are allowed to run and root inside of 
 the rows, but not on that strip of clear ground which has 
 to be spaded or plowed in the spring. That wa}^ there are 
 matted beds at every alternate space. Weeds must not be 
 allowed to take a start on the plants, and have to be un- 
 mercifully pulled out as soon as they put up an appear- 
 ance, or at least before they seed out. The same thing, 
 of course, applies to the hill system concerning weeds, 
 though a hoe or cultivator can be used instead of the fin- 
 gers, as it is the case with matted rows. Some varieties 
 of Strawberries, like the French, New Jersey Scarlet, and 
 others, do very well in matted rows. 
 
 Mulching. 
 
 To raise clean and nice berries, the beds have to be well 
 mulched. Horse manure, straw, new mown grass, well rot- 
 ted tan bark, planing-mill shavings, pine leaves, etc., are all 
 materials used for mulching purposes; in fact, on^ has to 
 use the material most at hand and consequently the cheap- 
 est. On our place, we use pine leaves, and we must say 
 that it constitutes the best mulching knoAvn; for heavy 
 rains do not wash or cut the beds that are sloping; no 
 weeds grow from the use of it; it keeps a long time before 
 it is rotten enough to have it replaced, the ground is kept 
 nicely moistened underneath, and the air is not prevented 
 of getting under as it might be with other material. 
 
 The trouble with manure-mulching is the quantity of 
 weeds that will surel}^ come out from its use; and if the ma- 
 nure is too new, numbers of insects will make their abode un- 
 der it. When the beds have to be manured or cultivated the 
 mulching material has to be raked up in small piles in 
 
11 
 
 every alternate row, and scattered back over the beds when 
 the work is done; never turn it into the ground unless it is 
 well rotten. In California, mulching is almost indisjDensable; 
 more so when water for irrigation is scarce. But in this 
 State, even high up among the foot-hills of the Sierra 
 Nevada, where it is quite cold in winter, we do not need 
 winter mulching as they do in the Eastern States, to pre- 
 vent upheaving, though we do leave on the ground the 
 mulching used in the hot season. 
 
 Irrigation. 
 
 In California no Strawberries of any account can be very 
 well raised without resorting to irrigation, so dry are our 
 summer months; planted and cultivated in a slipshod w^ay 
 they would surely all dry up and die; but set in ground 
 broken up deep, well manured and cultivated as described 
 above, Straw^berry plants will only dry up some, if not irri- 
 gated, but not die, the fall rains starting them up anew. 
 
 We would here advise our eastern Fragariculturists to 
 experiment watering or irrigating, when it can be done 
 without much trouble or expense; we are satisfied that they 
 wall find a very big difference between irrigated and unirri- 
 gated Strawberry fields. Another fact which has been 
 found by French and English horticulturists, is that Straw- 
 berries do prefer artificial watering to the natural moisture 
 of the soil or rain. 
 
 Irrigation might be done by immersion or submersion 
 if the soil is deep, naturally so, or, by having had the ground 
 broken up to a good depth, small ditches can be digged out 
 every fifteen or twenty feet, the water being permitted to 
 run but slowly into the ditches, so that it would not wash 
 over; it will thus soak down all along the under soil, if the 
 land is in the least sloping, and rise up from the bottom to 
 the top. Submersion is done by the use of hose with 
 sprinklers, or simply by letting the w^ater run into very 
 small trenches, one trench to each row; the water being 
 conducted to the rows through small boxes having holes to 
 let the water out in front of each row. Very little trouble 
 is thus given in irrigating Strawberries. With this system 
 of irrigation, rows have to be well apart, at least two feet. 
 
 Strawberries need absolutely water, whichever way it 
 comes, from the clouds or reservoir, from the time the fruit 
 is taking shape to ripening time. 
 
12 
 
 Care of Plants after Setting. 
 
 Strawberry plants after being duly set, have to be watched 
 all the year around. In the first place blossom stems have to 
 be unmercifully taken off on jolants set in the spring, for 
 young plants must not bear any fruit the first season, if 
 good size plants and a full crop of fruit the first bearing 
 year is desired. Then the fruit that such young plants 
 bear do not amount to anything, so it is cheaper and better 
 to sacrifice a few berries and let the plants get strong and 
 thrifty first. This rule applies likewise t() all kinds of 
 fruit. 
 
 Runners have to be continually destroved; they have to 
 be taken off before getting rooted"; if not, it would be a long 
 and tedious job. We do it when they are one foot long, 
 and always use a knife or scissors, but never pull them off 
 violently with the fingers. 
 
 Strawberry beds must be kept entirely free of weeds, 
 and they have to be pulled out, too, before the seed gets 
 ripened. Besides being kept clear of weeds and runners, 
 the surface must be well loosened up. For people who 
 raise Strawberries on a small scale, the best thing to use 
 is a spading fork; the mulching need not be taken off, the 
 ground being hft up here aud there with the fork without 
 turning it over. 
 
 You cannot expect a good crop of large, nice berries if 
 you do not keep the beds clean and the earth loosened. 
 The ground must be kept moist enough to prevent the 
 wilting of the plants. After the berries are all i^icked, it 
 is well to clip off' the plants close to their crown, fork up 
 the space between the rows, and water iuimediately; in this 
 way, we get rid at the same time of old leaves, friiit stems, 
 and runners; the plants soon throwing out new, fresh' 
 green leaves as thick as ever. ' 
 
 Propagation. 
 
 There are three ways of propagating Strawberries: 
 First, by runners; second, by division of the roots of old 
 plants; third, by seed. 
 
 For propagating purposes by the first method, runners, 
 it IS well to have plants of each variety set in a separate 
 bed, and far enough from each other to prevent the mixino- 
 up of runners. For a small garden, the runners of a few 
 plants are more than sufficient. To make runners root 
 
IS 
 
 quicker dirt and manure are thrown over them, and water 
 criven frequentlv. We have in this way obtained several 
 hundred good 'looted plants from the runners of three 
 single plants set in the spring. ^ n i j- 
 
 Strawberry plants mav be very well propagated by di- 
 vision of the roots of old plants, though rooted runners 
 are preferable whenever they can be obtained, as it is the 
 case with annual sorts Those two ways of propagating 
 Strawberries will reproduce exactly the same varieties. 
 
 Propagation by Seed. 
 
 The largest and linest Strawberries must be selected, but 
 picked only wdien well ripened, smashed m water, the seed 
 falling to the bottom of the vessel used to that efiect; it is 
 then taken out, laid on a cloth to drain some, mixed to hne 
 and dry dirt and sowed immediately. A small bed, rather 
 shaded, with a good top dressing of rich dirt obtained from 
 old hot-beds, is selected, the surface having been when 
 leveled and watered with a fine-holed sprinkler; the seed 
 is then thrown even on that bed, and a little dirt sitted out 
 so as to just cover the seed. This little bed must be kept 
 in the best exposed part of the place, shaded from the too 
 hot sun, and watered slightly but quite often; m two weeks 
 the seed will come out, and when the plants are six weeks 
 to two months old, thev are good to be set out. _ 
 
 The seed might be kept till the ensuing spring, if desired; 
 but, in that case, it must be well dried in the shade when 
 taken out of the water. 
 
 The propagation of the Strawberry by seed is very un- 
 certain, different varieties being thus obtained; and though 
 some niav produce a higher and better grade of plants, 
 great manv are worthless. With Everbearing or Alpine 
 varieties, the case is diflterent, the original type being re- 
 produced every time. 
 
 Re-Setting. 
 
 When three to four years old, according to varieties, 
 Strawberry plants get their crown too much out ot the 
 ground, so that to make them fruit as good as before it is 
 necessary to either re-set them, or else have new earth trom 
 another part of the garden, scattered all over the beds thick 
 enough to have the plants well earthed up. By such a pro- 
 cess, new roots will form over the old ones, and the plants 
 throwing out more fruit buds, will, therefore, yield a larger 
 
14 
 
 crop. Before scattering that new dirt over the beds, it 
 would be a good plan to previously fork up the ground and 
 cover it with a coat of manure which would be sufficiently 
 buried into the ground. 
 
 A good way of re-setting Strawberry 2)lants is this: Take 
 a sharp spade, cut the ground on four sides around the 
 plants; if the soil was too dry, it would have to be watered 
 first, to permit the dirt to stick well to the roots, and with 
 a lift throw wp the plant with sod, dig out t])e hole deep 
 enough to receive in its bottom a little well rotten manure, 
 throw in a little water, put back the plants with sod into 
 the hole, seeing that the tops are well out, fill up the in- 
 terstices with dirt, manure and spade the space between 
 the rows, and water if you can. Such re-set beds will 
 bear nicely for two more years. Previously to re-setting 
 always trim up the tops of plants, and if the ground has 
 been mulched, pat back the mulching, which, during the 
 operation, has to be raked out of the way. 
 
 Exposure. 
 
 According to most experienced fragariculturists, and we 
 agree with them on that point, the very best exposure for 
 Strawberries is an open one, not overshaded at least, and 
 well exposed to the vivifying rays of the sun, and to light. 
 In our California mountains, under the hot sun of June and 
 July, the southern exposure is even the best one if water is 
 used liberally; however, any exposure will do as long as it. 
 is an open one; the only difference is that at the south Straw- 
 berry beds will bear earlier than at the north. A little 
 shelter from trees and bushes is sometimes a good protec- 
 tion against late frosts. 
 
 In Europe, where rain and cloudy weather are very com- 
 mon in the spring and summer, it is said that Strawberries 
 are better flavored and more delicate if raised in sandy or 
 calcareous soil, and that a southern exposure diminishes the 
 quantity, but augments the quality; and rice versa with 
 a northern exposure. 
 
 Annual Varieties. 
 
 In olden times varieties of Strawberries were rather lim- 
 ited, and Strawberry beds were chiefly supplied for new 
 plants from the w^oods, where did and does grow yet those 
 monthly sorts known as Wood, Four-seasons, Alpine, and 
 which all bear a very small though very fragrant berry. 
 
15 
 
 But at the beginning- of this century, horticulturists exper- 
 imented on the American or Annual sorts, of which the 
 beautiful Yirginiana Scarlet is the mother type, and 
 obtained new varieties by seed, crossed them to the Pine or 
 Surinam; also to the Chile White, all Annuals; so to-day, 
 those magniticent Annual varieties have driven poor little 
 Wood and Alpine almost completely out of the market. 
 
 The main quality of the Annual Strawberry is its splen- 
 did flavor and its large, sometimes enormous size. The 
 Wood and Alpine are certainly more fragrant, the Annuals 
 having been unable yet to equal those Everbearing va- 
 rieties on that particular point; but the flavor of the latter 
 is so peculiar tliat as long as Annuals can be had, there can 
 be no demand for Everbearing sorts. 
 
 It is the Annual that wants an open exposure, sun and 
 light; while the Wood and Alpine humbly rejoice in the 
 shade. 
 
 Biennial Varieties. 
 
 Those are Annuals that give a second crop from August 
 to November. To that effect, the plants are completely 
 clipped oft' clear to the crown, the ground cultivated and 
 watered; after such an operation and in keeping constantly 
 the ground moist enough, the plants soon throw out new 
 leaves and fruit buds, which will fruit before the winter sets 
 in, particularly if the operation is done right after the 
 summer crop is all picked. We do treat plants of all vari- 
 eties, as well Annuals as Biennials, the same way, and 
 found out that only four varieties out of forty raised on our 
 place are really Biennial. Those four Biennials are Amador, 
 Princess Dagmar, Garibaldi and Alice Nicholson, Amador 
 having been originated by us. It is the first one to bear in 
 the fall. The three other varieties are English and belong 
 to the pale-colored class of Strawberries, a cross, by hy- 
 bridization, between the Virginia Scarlet and Chile White. 
 
 In the fall of 1875, so mild was the season, we picked 
 Strawberries as late as Christmas from those Biennial 
 varieties. 
 
 A bed of Biennials, to bear well, has to be thoroughly 
 watered through the summer, so much so from the time the 
 plants throw out blossoms. Young plants bear the best in 
 the fall. 
 
16 
 
 Everbearing, or Wood Varieties. 
 
 Though the Annuals have really dethroned this class of 
 Strawberries, still their everbearing qualities make them de- 
 sirable in every garden; for when the Annuals are gone and 
 we have had time to forget their savory taste, the fra- 
 grant little Everbearing is very welcome, at a time, too, 
 that all kinds of small fruit are entirely done with. A dish 
 of Perpetual or Buisson de Gaillon right in the fall is not 
 a very bad dish after all. We will, therefore, give here a 
 special chapter on their culture. 
 
 The AVood varieties throw out runners like Annuals, and 
 can be pro2)agated the same way. Enough runners are al- 
 lowed to take r.'ot so as to give new plants for the ensuing 
 year; a plantation of Everbearing having to be renewed 
 every yenv, it* much of a crop is desired. 
 
 Those rooted runners have to be planted in the fall of 
 the year, fourteen inches apart at least, and all around. The 
 first runners that will come out in the spring have to be 
 taken off, to give strength to the mother plant. In June 
 and July — not before— four to live runners to each plant 
 are allowed to root, every new one coming out afterwards 
 being destroyed. 
 
 In the ensiling fall all the plants are taken out, the 
 ground manured, and the plantation renewed w^ith rooted 
 runners saved for that purj^ose. Mulching is absolutely 
 necessary with those Perpetual or Wood sorts, and it is 
 done thick to prevent runners of rooting too easily. 
 
 Plants may be set in the^spring, though, wherever it can 
 be done, the fall is preferable. 
 
 Never take the most vigorous runners for new plants, 
 they blooming even before they are well rooted; then they 
 degenerate and, in fact, do not do well. Small, young run- 
 ners are the best. It is all the reverse, of course, with An- 
 nuals. 
 
 Bush- Alpine Varieties. 
 
 The Bush- Alpine, or Buisson de Gaillon, are remarkable 
 for their complete absence of runners, growing in nice, 
 comjDact bunches of finely cut leaves, which render them 
 very desirable for borders. The fruit is small, of a beauti- 
 ful red, and very fragrant, parting freely from the hull or 
 calyx in picking. They are propagated either by the di- 
 vision of the roots of old plants or by seed. Plants have 
 to be set as early as practicable in the fall, to have them 
 
17 
 
 well rooted before the winter sets in. In cold climates none 
 ought to be set after the 1st of November; Bush- Alpine, 
 having very few roots, wouldn't hold enough n gainst the 
 heaving propensities of frosts, or else would bo buried 
 into the ground bv heavy rains, both of which would ruin 
 the plants. If not made in the fall, such plantations can be 
 done very well in the spring, only they have to be watered 
 quite often to insure their growth 
 
 Plants have to be set one foot apart all around, with the 
 crown well out. If propagated b}^ seed, see that heading- 
 above. Plantations of Bush- Alpine have to be renewed 
 every year. They bear, and abundantly, from June to De- 
 cember. However, as in June there is plenty of Annuals, 
 it is well to cut oil' all the spring blost?oms to secure a fine 
 crop in the fall. 
 
 The Wood, or Perpetual Strawberry, is round, the Bush- 
 Alpine is oval. Their flavor is quite diflterent from that of 
 Annuals, though they are more fragrant. 
 
 Staminate and Pistillate Plants. 
 
 Annuals are divided into two classes, one that bears 
 staminate blossoms, the other pistillate blossoms. To 
 make our readers better acquainted with the subject — and 
 they have to understand it well if desirous to cross varie- 
 ties hj hybridization — let us take hold of a perfect 
 Strawberr}^ blossom; you will notice that the very middle 
 of the little flower is composed of a small, well rounded 
 cone, with little hair like all over, of the same size and of 
 a yellow tint, this little cone developing itself into a berry 
 if fertilized; that little cluster of yellow hair are the pistils, or 
 male organ of the plant; therefore, blossoms that have noth- 
 ing else but pistils are called pistillate. Staminate blosoms, 
 instead of a cluster of pistils, have long, yellow anthers, 
 whicli bear that fine fertilizing dust called pollen; those an- 
 thers are the stamens, or female organ of the plants, and 
 such blossoms are called staminate. Pistillate plants, set 
 by themselves, will not bear any fruit, though blooming 
 profusely. People ignorant of tliat particularity in Straw- 
 berry' blossoms are much disap}){)inted wiien chancing to 
 have on their place but pistillate varieties. To fertilize 
 them, staminate varieties are planted among them. 
 
 There is a third class of blossoms, called Perfect blos- 
 soms, or hermaphrodite. It is distinctly composed of a 
 cluster of pistils very close together, and of a large number 
 of anthers, or stamens, standing all round the pistils like 
 
]8 
 
 long threads, bearing on their toj^ the pollen, or fecundat- 
 ing dust. Such blossoms all come to fruit; hence their 
 name of Perfect blossoms. All the Everbearing sorts of 
 Strawberries, Wood or Alpine, do bear none but Perfect 
 blossoms; old folks, from their Everbearing, uniform bear- 
 ing and productiveness, preferred them for a long time to 
 the new American or Annual varieties till they knew better. 
 
 Hybridization. 
 
 From what precedes, our readers will understand better 
 the manner of crossing varieties by artificial fecundation 
 or hybridization, and so obtain new varieties. The method 
 generally employed in America is this : Fertilizing imper- 
 fect blossoms with perfect ones, and sow^ing the seeds of 
 the cross so obtained. An imperfect blossom plant is 
 planted among several of the perfect blossom sorts, and 
 that plant will bear the cross between both varieties. But 
 this kind of hybridization is too uncertain, while the 
 method followed in Europe, and through which have been 
 originated the most njagnificent and greatly varied kinds 
 which are a pride to the Europtan horticulturist, is quite 
 different and more elaborate. Varieties possessing oppo- 
 site characters are only used for crossing purposes, though 
 they must belong to the same race. For instance, it would 
 not do to cross nn Everbearing variety with an Annual. 
 To be successful in obtaining new and superior sorts of 
 Strawberries, one has to select races as pure as possible, 
 bearing fine strawberries of good quality and large size. 
 Having thus selected the two sorts to hybridize, the first 
 thing to be done is to " castrate" the plant to be crossed 
 on, in taking off, with a pair of fine tweezers, the stamens or 
 anthers of its flowers, the operation being done to half a 
 dozen of flowers; then pollen has to be carried from flow- 
 ers of the kind to cross, on a fine hair brash, and set on 
 the pistils of the castrated flowers. Every new flower 
 that comes out after the operation has to be destroyed; 
 none, in fact, but the artificially fecundated ones being al- 
 lowed to fruit. When the berries are quite ripened, the}^ 
 are picked, the seed extracted and sowed immediately. The 
 fruit obtained from the new plants, which would fruit 
 eighteen months after the sowing of the seed, constitutes 
 the new variet}-. 
 
 Forcing St awberries. 
 
 In the vicinity of large cities, where primeurs are eagerly 
 sought for and readily paid what they are worth, it might 
 
19 
 
 be profitable to force Strawberries; so we shall give the best 
 method known for obtaining Strawberries earlier than those 
 grown naturally. 
 
 The plants are set in pots several weeks before forcing 
 time, and placed under glass in a hot-bed, and in snch a man- 
 ner that the tops of the plants be only two or three inches 
 from the glass. Ihe Strawberry plants set in the open 
 ground in the spring are those that give in July the best 
 runners to force hereafter. At the time that runners so 
 spread out, fine dirt is thrown over them to make them 
 root quicker. In the course of a week they will be rooted 
 enough to set out; for when the roots are still white the 
 transiDlanting succeeds so much better. In the last pavt of 
 September or the first half of October the}^ are taken from 
 the bed where they had been transplanted, and set in pots, 
 and kept outside till the time has come to put them under 
 glass, which, in a temperate climate, is done about Janu- 
 ary or February, and according to the time the fruit is 
 needed. 
 
 Now-a-days, hot-beds for primeurs of all kinds are heated 
 by a thermosiphon, and instead of filling up the hot-bed 
 frame with manure and tan bark, an empty space is left in 
 the lower part of the frame, where the hot water pipes are 
 laid, a floor being built over them and at ten inches from 
 the top, which floor is laden with eight to nine inches of 
 tan bark or sawdust or sand, tan bark being the best. The 
 pots are then plunged into the tan. 
 
 At night and when the weather is cold, the glass must be 
 covered with mats or hot-bed sash; air given inside when 
 the weather is fine and warm; but the sashes must be put 
 down a little before sunset to keep in the warm air; in a 
 word, the sashes must be opened when it is getting warm, 
 and covered with mats as soon as it gets cold; besides, the 
 frame has to be banked up with fresh horse manure, so as 
 to obtain as much heat as possible. The plants must be 
 watered lightly with milkwarm water, that watering being 
 always done on evening before shutting down the sashes. 
 When blooming time has come and the fruit is ah-eady 
 formed, it is well to take off every new blossom. If the 
 sun is getting too hot, shade the hot-bed. As soon as the 
 fruit is formed, water has to be given quite often, but never 
 use liquid manure if you do not wish to have 3'our plants 
 all killed. Liquid manure is good for forcing plants set 
 out in the open ground. Pure, slightly warm water is the 
 best, and it must be poured, too, right at the foot of the 
 plants and not sprinkled all over them. As soon as the 
 
20 
 
 fruits are coloring, watering might cease. Of course, 
 weeds have to be taken out, and insects of any kind hunted 
 out and killed. 
 
 Strawberiies might be obtained outside a couple weeks 
 earlier than the main crop^ by setting plants in well exposed 
 and sheltered ground, naturalh' or artificially sheltered. 
 When the weather is getting too cold, the plants are cov- 
 ered up. 
 
 Cares to Plants Forwarded by Mail, 
 
 Plants sent out by mail or express from a great distance 
 arrive sometimes in a rather dried-up condition, and are 
 hardly fit to be planted. Such plants have to be plunged 
 in water, a little bit warm, and left in it to soak and revive, 
 that is, between six to eight hours, set out at once and wa- 
 tered, whether the ground is wet or not, the weather clear 
 or cloudy. Q.liey must be watered every day till they show 
 signs of growing; if the weather gets too hot, shade the 
 plants. In this way we have succeeded wit li plants forwarded 
 from Europe to Nevada City, and that were some thirty 
 days on the way, in a mail-bag, some 132 days in a box 
 with other plants. 
 
 Duration of Strawberry Beds. 
 
 A plantation of Straw^berries, according to varieties, will 
 last from two to five years. When two years old, however, 
 the beds have to be well manured, in the fall the better, 
 and the plants banked up or re-setted. If runners are 
 too much allowed to run and root, it injures somewhat the 
 plants, abridges their life and diminishes considerably their 
 yield, the sap being spent for nothing; and this effort at 
 reproducing itself enervates and weakens the mother 
 plant. 
 
 The stirring up of the surface, manuring, spading, hoe- 
 ing and all the other cares of a Strawberry plantation, will 
 prolong its existenr-e and make it 3deld a year and more 
 longer. 
 
 The more rich, shaded and moist is the ground, the 
 more space have the plants, the longer, then, will be their 
 duration and more certain will be the crop. 
 
 Strawberry x^lants set by themselves, in hills, are those 
 that last the iongest. 
 
THE LADY 
 
I 
 
21 
 
 Mode to Perpetuate Strawberry Beds. 
 
 Rotation is as good to gTound set for a Strawberry plan- 
 tation than to any other crops. So, when Strawdoerry 
 plants are o-etting too okl, they are digged out, burned up 
 in }iiles and the ashes spread over the ground — which has 
 to be well manured — and a crop of vegetables raised on 
 the first year and planted back in Strawberries the ensuing 
 fall. If, however, the garden was too small to admit such 
 a rotation, and no other room could be had on the place 
 where to set a new Strawdjerry bed, then the best would be 
 to take out about nine inches of dirt from the old bed and 
 have new one from any part of the garden put in its place, 
 manure it and set young plants, rooted runners being al- 
 ways the best ones. 
 
 How to make Strawberries last. 
 
 So delicious is the Strawberry, that people are not con- 
 tented with having some during their usual season, but 
 want them to last a longer time. The way to have Straw- 
 berries half the year round is to plant, to a very good ex- 
 posure, beds of very early varieties; then, to an ordinary 
 exposure, early and half earl.y varieties; at a northern ex- 
 posure, half late and late ones; last, at both exposures, 
 beds of Everbearing, Wood and Alpines. That way, 
 Strawberries will be picked till the middle of July on An- 
 nual varieties and till November on Everbearing ones. 
 
 Spring Work on Strawberry Beds. 
 
 When the winter is over and before the plants start out 
 growing, the beds must be cleaned up. First, the mulch- 
 ing is raked out of the way; then, with a long knife, are 
 the dead leaves and old stems cut off close to the crown of 
 the plants. Leaves and stems might be burned up and the 
 ashes scattered over the ground. Next, the ground is forked 
 or spaded — we prefer the fork to the spade, because it 
 does not cut or hurt the roots any — weeds pulled out^and 
 the beds watered, if it is hot at the time, and w^ater on 
 hand — water will invigorate the plants that get more or less 
 fatigued by the operation. In stirring up the surface, 
 earth might be drawn round the plants to make them 
 gi'ow new roots, and roots always start below the crowns. 
 
 From the time Straw^berry beds are so worked, the}^ have to 
 be watered once in a while, according to the weather; with 
 a good mulching, a weekly watering will be sufficient. If 
 
^9, 
 
 the beds have not been manured before the winter, it can 
 be done immediately after the plants have been cleaned up, 
 but only well rotted manure has to be used. 
 
 Composts might be made before the winter sets in and 
 used in the spring for manuring Strawberry beds. 
 
 How to Raise Very Large Fruit. 
 
 In the first place, set out plants obtained by hybridiza- 
 tion, if having any; if not, plants of your largest varieties; 
 set them in rich ground and at a good exposure. Water 
 several times with liquid manure, which can be had by 
 throwing, in a barrel half full with water, horse and hen 
 manure, guano, urine and even human manure. Be care- 
 ful not to wet the leaves, but pour this liquid manure right 
 at the foot of the plants. To prevent the liquid of running 
 over, the ground has to be loosened around the plants. 
 The next thing is to take ofi' all the fruit stems but one 
 or two, leaving but two or three berries on each stem. 
 Yery large berries are thus obtained. 
 
 How to pick and keep Strawberries. 
 
 It is a very simple and easy thing to pick Straw- 
 berries, still very few people know how to do it. 
 With Bush-Alpine and certain Annual varieties, berries 
 parting freely from their hull or calyx, their picking is 
 easily made. But with most Annuals, the fruit do not part 
 so freely from the calyx into which it is imbedded, and the 
 picking must be done by taking hold of the stem of the 
 fruit with the thumb and forefinger and cutting it off 
 Avith the thumb's nail. It is very essential, particularly 
 when Strawberries have to be shipped to a distant market, 
 to pick the berries with the hull and part of the stem 
 on, they will keep so much better. All berries that are 
 picked without hull and stem adhering to it are set aside 
 for immediate use; such Strawberries when packed among 
 the others, are apt to dirting and spoiling the good ones 
 by their juice running out 
 
 With very large varieties whose fruit weighs from one 
 ounce to one ounce and a half, it is better to make them 
 rest on little forks made of wood and stuck in the ground, 
 to prevent the berries of dirting and being attacked by cer- 
 tain insects. Some people use a little prop or support 
 made of wire. A thick mulching might be all that is neces- 
 sary for preventing the fruit of getting dirty, but not to 
 prevent insects from going after them, and somehow they 
 
2B 
 
 seem to prefer feasting on the very largest and finest ber- 
 ries. 
 
 To keep Strawberries, they have to be picked before 
 their complete maturity, set in a shallow box and stored in 
 a cool place. If they are dirty, do not wash them; that 
 has to be done anyhow half an hour before serving them 
 on the table. 
 
 Packing and Shipping. 
 
 Since Strawberries are cultivated on a large scale, people 
 have to look to a distant market for their crop. So far, 
 packing in this country is done very carelessly, and, as a 
 consequence, Strawberries arrive to any distant and even 
 near market, bruised, moulded, sour and hardly fit to eat. 
 This we see every year ujd here with early Strawberries 
 shipped from San Francisco. When near a market, small 
 baskets holding from one to two pounds might be used; the 
 more shallow they are, however, the better. We have been 
 using, this ^^ear, strawboard baskets, having bought the 
 patent right for our own use. It is the most handy, cheap- 
 est basket we ever tried. 
 
 The very best way of packing Strawberries for a distant 
 market is this : Use shallow boxes holding from ten to 
 twelve pounds; lay in the bottom a little fine hay and fresh 
 leaves, such as grapevine, strawberry, raspberr}^ mulberry 
 leaves; then set a layer of Strawberries, a layer of leaves 
 and so on to the to]^; set some leaves on the last layer of 
 Strawberries and a little hay on top of leaves, and nail up 
 the cover. Several such boxes are tied up together to 
 make a single case of fruit. Packed in that way, Straw- 
 berries may be- shipped to a great distance, over six hun- 
 dred miles by fast freight, and never get bruised or spoiled. 
 We have tried it, and Strawberries shipped from this place 
 arrived at San Francisco, after having been picked forty 
 hours, in a splendid condition. When packed in this man- 
 ner, the dealer places them himself in little baskets like 
 the strawboard ones that cost but a trifle, and as fast as the 
 sale goes. 
 
 Insects Injurious to Strawberries. 
 
 The insects that injure the Strawberry, feasting on it, 
 are: the white worm, ants, slugs or naked snails, jumping 
 bug, centipede or strawberr}^ scolopendra, and several kinds 
 of worms and caterpillars; besides the mole and gopher, 
 who injure the plants. 
 
24 
 
 The fragariculturist has to watch closely his beds of 
 Strawberries, and make an early attack upon the little army 
 of insects, that are watching, with as much eagerness as he, 
 the ripening of the luscious berries. 
 
 Wliite Wo7nn. — It is the larvae of the Chafer or May-bug, 
 a species of Scarabeus or Beetle. The Larvae has the ap- 
 pearance of a large, white worm, and stays two years in 
 the ground in a larvte state, before emerging out as a per- 
 fect insect; it is the most dreaded enemy of a Strawberry 
 l^lantation, for it takes them but a few weeks, if in large 
 numbers, to devour a whole bed of Strawberry plants. 
 There is no remedy against its ravages, except to kill every 
 larv5?e seen in the ground while working it, or hunting up 
 the perfect insect on the. bushes it lives on. In California 
 they are very few, which is due likely to the absence of 
 bushes on which the perfect insects do feed. In Europe 
 they are ver^^common. 
 
 Slugs or Naked Snaih. We never saw any in this part of 
 California; however, they are very fond of Strawberries. 
 The way to prevent them of getting at the fruit, is to sj)read 
 ashes or saw-dust round the Strawberry jjlants, in which 
 they get so hampered that they cannot get away, and are 
 easily killed with a sharj) pointed wire. Small mounds of 
 bran may be set here and there, and as they are very fond 
 of it they are easily caught in the very same manner. 
 
 Arils, — This little pest goes after the Strawberry as much 
 as it does after any other fruit. To get rid of them, set on 
 their regular trail saucers with honey or syrup in them, and 
 when the ants are collected in the saucers in large numbers 
 pour upon them boiling water. A little honey might be in- 
 troduced, too, in the ants-hill; soon will the ants crowd up 
 around the honey, boiling water poured into the hill will 
 make dead ants of them. 
 
 Cenlipede. — This insect is rather common ever^^where; it 
 attacks the very first ripening berries, and the largest ones 
 in preference. It bores in the berry a hole big enough to 
 set half the body in, and sometimes coils himself up with 
 whole family in one of these large berries. They seem to 
 be more common in the first two weeks of ripening time. 
 The best ^vay we know to get rid of centipedes, is this: at 
 the head of the box used for picking Strawberries, we carry 
 a pair of short-blade scissors, and whenever we find a cent- 
 ipede at work or digesting, we simply cut it in too. When 
 we pick a Strawberry with a hole right underneath, we are 
 satisfied that it is done by a centipede, and by looking under 
 
o 
 
 h 
 S 
 
 t— H 
 
 X 
 
 X 
 
25 
 
 the mulching we surely find one or several of them making 
 themselves at home, and in two pieces they go. 
 
 Jamping-Bug. — This little beetle, which jumps up like an 
 acrobat, is over half an inch long, having exactly the shape 
 of a muskmelon seed. It bores a hole into the berry, 
 sticking half the body in and feasting in perfect ease. We 
 do operate on this little acrobat with the scissors, and as 
 unceremoniously as we do with the centipede. This jump- 
 ing-bug, as soon it is touched, jamps up several inches in 
 the air, falling back on his legs, and in this way makes 
 good his escape. 
 
 Worms of all kinds, found on the plants or fruit, are 
 treated in the same manner. 
 
 Mole, — This little animal, once in a Strawberry bed, w^ill 
 cause much injury to the plants, by disturbing the roots 
 while opening his subterranean galleries in search of in- 
 sects to feed on. They have two sets of galleries, one right 
 under the surface, the other six to twelve inches deeper in 
 the ground, with passages from one set of galleries to the 
 other. It is very hard to catch moles with traps or poison; 
 the best is to keep a watch and kill him either with the gun 
 or spade. 
 
 Gopher. — This is a regular California institution, and, 
 indeed, the5^ are plenty in this State. The gopher feeds 
 on roots, but somehow he does not care for those of the 
 Strawberry; however, gophers injure the plants in the same 
 way as moles do, by cutting or disturbing the roots, in run- 
 ning his galleries right under the plants. Same remedy as 
 with the mole: gun, poison or trap. 
 
 Malaciies of the Strawberry. 
 
 The Strawberry is quite hardy, and very little subject to 
 diseases of any kind, though sometimes it is attacked by 
 jaundice. This complaint is due either to the poor quality 
 of the soil, or its being too dry, or having been given too 
 fresh manure; in all cases it will j)romptly get green and 
 well again if watered three or four times with w^ater in 
 which has been dissolved | of an ounce of sulphate of iron 
 per gallon; a gallon being sufficient for 25 to 40 plants. 
 When the soil is too poor, some compost or manure must 
 be spread on the surface; if not, the malady would break 
 out again among the plants. 
 
26 
 
 The Art of Preparing Strawberries. 
 
 After Strawberries have been picked and gathered, only 
 half the work has been done, and they have to undergo a 
 certain operation before being ready to be eaten up. 
 
 Whichever way you intend to have Strawberries served 
 on the table, 3^011 will have first to clean them up. Taking 
 a common jack-knife, with its point you take off the hull 
 still adhering to the fruit, and the berries will not bruise so 
 much than if done with the fingers. Cut out, too, any 
 part of those large berries that get sjDoiled or green on one 
 side. Set the berries in a deep vessel, then pour w^ater 
 gentW on them to wash out the sand or dirt. Last, put the 
 berries into a strainer to dry some; always serve them half 
 an hour after having them in water. It is a great mistake 
 to think that Strawberries when washed do lose their flavor; 
 if they do, half an hour after the operation they get it 
 back again; and surely they look nicer, fresher and more 
 tempting yet; however, as a wet Strawberry will spoil 
 quicker than one that has not been put into water, people 
 must see that Strawberries be washed only half an hour at 
 the most before eating them. 
 
 Sugar and Straioherries. — Some amateurs eat them so, 
 dry, with nothing else but w^ell pulverized sugar. They are 
 served on the table all ready sugared. 
 
 Wine and Straivberries. — Set some crushed sugar on your 
 Strawberries, and pour a little water on it so as to make it 
 melt; never use pulverized sugar for this dish. Pour then 
 the quantity of wane that you wish; good, superior wine, 
 and not sour, poor claret. 
 
 Brandy and Straivberries. — Use crushed sugar, and 
 melt it like the preceding dish, but put in a little more 
 water and a half tea-spoonful of cognac only to a person, 
 and for a good sized dish; taken this way, Strawberries di- 
 gest splendidly. 
 
 Cream and Straivberries. — Spread powdered sugar on the 
 Strawberries, and add the Cream. This is the worst way 
 of preparing and eating Strawberries; for, taken Avith cream 
 they are rather heavy on the stomach and of slow digestion. 
 This dish does agree better with sick persons, and yet they 
 must not eat too much of it. 
 
27 
 
 Chmnpagne and Straicheyrries. — Ye, whose palate has got 
 so delicate and hard to suit, amateurs and gourmands, just 
 try Champagne and Strawberries. First spread powdered 
 sugar on the Strawberries, then put in the vanilla cream 
 prepared to that effect, stir up, and last pour on the whole 
 some sparkling Champagne. After having done honor 
 to this splendid dish, you have nothing to desire; you are 
 haj^py. It was likely a dish of Champagne and Straw- 
 berries that mother Eve presented to Adam, and for which 
 the poor fellow w^as banished from the Eden. No such 
 fears with you, and you had better try. 
 
 Preserving Strawberries. 
 
 There are several ways of making Strawberry preserves; 
 however, the best method is this: 
 
 Strawberries 2 pounds. 
 
 Raspberries J " 
 
 Sugar _ 2 
 
 AVater \ quart. 
 
 First dissolve the sugar in the water, which must be boil- 
 ing at the time, and keep the whole boiling till a drop of 
 syrup taken on a jolate will stick to it without running; 
 that will take from 45 minutes to an hour and a half, ac- 
 cording to the quantity of syrup made or the shape of the 
 vessel used; the wider is the vessel, the more rapidly does 
 the evaporation take place; anyhow, do not set it in more 
 than four inches of water in height. 
 
 When the syrup has been thus boiled into the desired 
 consistency, the Strawberries, well cleaned, are thrown in 
 it, with the juice i xtracted from the Raspberries; let it boil 
 for 25 to 35 minutes; it is then put at once in cans. If pots 
 are used that are not hermetically sealed, to keep such pre- 
 serves a longer time, the pots have to be filled up not quite 
 full, enough room being left for a lnjer of currant jelly 
 about J of an inch thick. A week after, a j)iece of paper 
 dipped in brand}^ is set on the top of the jelly, and the 
 cover fixed on. 
 
 Strawberry Jelly. 
 
 Take: 
 
 Strawberries 2 pounds. 
 
 Raspberries h " 
 
 Sugar.... 2 '' 
 
 Gum Arabic 2 ounces. 
 
Put in the vessel used to make jellies, a layer of Strawber- 
 ries, then a layer of sugar, so on to the top; add the rasp- 
 berry juice, make it boil for 30 to 40 minutes without stir- 
 ing up; add the gum arabic, which has been previously 
 dissolved in a little cold w^ater. Put the whole in a r-ieve 
 and let it run out of itself. Fill up the pots or cans, and 
 do with it as with currant jelly. 
 
 Always keep jellies in a dry place. 
 
 Sometimes jelly obtained from very watery Strawberries 
 will mould some; in that case the jelly is put back on the 
 fire and boiled for several minutes. 
 
 Medicinal Properties of Strawberries. 
 
 The ancients regarded Strawberries as a delicate and val- 
 uable dish, and attributed to them great medicinal virtues. 
 But at that remote epoch, it was impossible to jirocure 
 enough of that little fruit for general use, the only varieties 
 known being the Wood or Everbearing, which grew wild 
 in the woods of Europe; while the case is different with us, 
 and now-a-days Strawbeiries can be had in quantities to suit. 
 It may, therefore, be interesting for amateurs of Strawber- 
 lie^ to know what are their therapeutic properties. 
 
 A memoir addressed to the Society of Sciences of Paris, 
 by M. Sauquet, claims that the free use of Strawberries has 
 cured persons affected with gout. The great Linnaeus 
 cured himself of that disease, too, by the use of Straw- 
 berries. 
 
 Gesner says that the juice extracted from Strawberries 
 soaked in alcohol, and taken by doses of a spoonful morn- 
 ing and evening, brings relief to persons affected with 
 gravel. Strawberries, indeed, have been highly spoken of in 
 all calculus disorders. 
 
 Boerhaave affirms that in that case this special property 
 of Strawberries reside in the grains. These grains are in- 
 digestible, and will cause sometimes irritation of the 
 bowels; on the other hand, like all small fruits which have 
 grains in large numbers, they will relieve persons subject 
 to costiveness. 
 
 Gelnecke, of Stettin, recommended that fruit as a vermi- 
 fuge, and used it against the taenia or tapeworm. 
 
 Van Swieten asserts that insane persons were cured after 
 a few weeks' daily use of several pounds of Strawberries. 
 
 Schulze, Hoffman, Galibert, cite cases of consumption 
 cured by the use of Strawberries, which cases, however, are 
 believed to have been only pulmonary catarrh with slow 
 fever and marasm. 
 
29 
 
 Apulee praises Strawberries smashed up in honey, for 
 relieving pains residing in the spleen. 
 
 Strawberries are cooling and quite digestive, and agree 
 ver}^ well with persons of a bilious or sanguine constitution. 
 
 Strawberries, served with cream, are said to be injurious 
 to dyspeptics. 
 
 General Hints on Fragariculture. 
 
 When starting a Strawberrj^ plantation for market pur- 
 poses, do not set more plants than you can really take care 
 of. 
 
 Keep your ground in good order, the weeds out, the sur- 
 face loosened, the runners otf; have alwavs in view that to 
 have large Strawberries and heavy crops, you must do 
 something for it. If you think that it is too much work 
 and bother to keep your beds clean and the plants in good 
 condition, then do not raise StraAvberries at all. 
 
 In tilling up your baskets for market, be careful to not 
 let in any spoiled Strawberries, and place the largest ones 
 on the top and in the bottom; that way, people will not 
 get disappointed at finding big berries, too, in the bottom 
 of the basket. Always arrange your berries in nice shape 
 on the top of your basket, assorting those of various colors 
 and different varieties m such a way that the baskets will 
 look so much more attractive. 
 
 As long as you can do it, always mix up varieties; such 
 a dish is by far preferable to one made out of a single 
 variety. 
 
 Fill up your baskets well, and rather give 17 ounces of 
 berries for a pound than 15 ounces. 
 
 Get up early to pick Strawberries, which, in fact, ought 
 to be picked before the sun gets too hot; if picked through 
 the day, set them immediately in a cool cellar till shipping 
 time. 
 
 No matter how large is a berry, v>^hen there is a little hole 
 in it, made by insect or bird, throw it away; nothing spoils 
 the look of a box of nice Strawberries as a berry with a 
 hole in it. 
 
 In short, be diligent with your work, tasty and honest in 
 the making up of 3*our baskets, and fair in all your deal- 
 ings, and you will find that little business lucrative enough. 
 
30 
 
 EXPLANATION OF PHOTOGRAPHS. 
 
 We have had photographs of fourteen number one varieties 
 taken, out of 37 varieties kept on our place, and of which 
 13 varieties will fruit next season (1877) for the first time. 
 As each number of our treatise contains at least two such 
 photographs, we shall here give a full description of those 14 
 varieties. We must say, first, that those photographs rep- 
 resent the average large size, and not largest Strawberries, 
 raised by our method, and without forcing whatever. They 
 are all hardy and have perfect blossoms. 
 
 English Varieties. 
 
 Cockscomb (from the Koyal garden of Frogmore). — Very 
 large — indeed, the largest raised on our place; cretiform 
 and cuneiform, dark crimson, sub-acid, productive. Bear 
 best on the first bearing year. Seeds well outside of little 
 cavities; semi-early. 
 
 Baron Lynan de Lynich. — Very large, well-shaped, long 
 and thick; dark, brilliant crimson; semi-early; moderately 
 productive. Seeds standing well outside. 
 
 Princess Dagmar. — Large and uniformly so; slightly 
 conical shape, nice light crimson, sometimes of a bricky 
 red; rich, splendid flavor, sweet and fragrant; seeds neatly 
 set in small cavities; very productive, and a regular yielder 
 every year. Very hardy and vigorous. First ripening ber- 
 ries rather pale; keeps on bearing for a long time; stout 
 grower, many runners. Biennial. A most desirable va- 
 riety for family use. 
 
 The Lady. — Large, broad, well-shaped, light crimson, 
 rosy, like a maiden's cheek; sweet and flavored; fruit stalks 
 long, with berries hanging in clusters; seeds not too deeply 
 set; bears very regularly every year. Season, medium to 
 late. Biennial. It is a pale, delicate berry, very produc- 
 tive. Foliage light, runners few; very hardy. 
 
31 
 
 Alice Nicholson. — Medium large, well-shaped, light 
 crimson, sweet and flavored. A parent to Princess Dag- 
 mar. "Very productive, hardy and vigorous. 
 
 Alcott Pineapple. — Very large, cuneiform, uniformly 
 large and well-shaped; bright glossy scarlet color. Plants 
 very low, thin foliage. Productive. Seeds well outside of 
 cavities. Late. Yery desirable for a distant market. 
 
 Exhibition. —The sweetest and best flavored berry of all, 
 but very poor in color; light crimson, medium large, well- 
 shaped; plants hardy, thick foliage, leaves small; very pro- 
 ductive and keeps so for six years. Seeds slightly imbed- 
 ded Very late. 
 
 American Varieties. 
 
 Col. Cheney. — A great favorite in the Eastern States, 
 and a very desirable sort to keep. Large, triangular- 
 shaped, sub acid; bright, light scarlet color, approaching 
 the orange; quite showy, very hardy, vigorous and pro- 
 ductive. Seeds slightly imbedded. 
 
 Jucunda. — Very large, sub-acid, dark scarlet color, pro- 
 ductive; season medium to late. Seeds numerous, but 
 standing well outside, which makes this variety very desira- 
 ble for a distant market. 
 
 Felix Gillet's Seedlings and Hybrids. 
 
 Gen. Grant — (hybrid). — Large and uniformly so; trian- 
 gular, dark scarlet, sweet and well-flavored; berries stand- 
 ing up on their stalks inside the thick foliage, which is of a 
 light green w^ith a light crimson border. Do not grow 
 many runners; productive, particularly on its first bearing 
 year. Seeds well outside. Good for a distant market. 
 Season medium to late. 
 
 La Conique — (Seedling). — Long, conical, bright crimson, 
 sweet and quite flavored. Foliage rather low; small leaves. 
 Seeds standing well outside. Season medium. Moderately 
 productive. 
 
 Sierra Nevada — (Seedling). — A parent of Baron Lynan 
 de Lynich; very large, well-shaped, dark crimson, a little 
 acid; thick foliage. Hardy. Late. Moderately productive. 
 
32 
 
 Gov. Booth — (Seedling). — Originated from Roheri Trail 
 (English); large, rounded, light crimson, sweet and flavored. 
 Thick foliage, hardy and vigorous. Late. Moderately 
 productive. 
 
 Granger — (Seedling). — Obtained from Princess Dagmar; 
 Large, bright crimson, very sweet and flavored. Product- 
 ive. Hardy and vigorous, like the Princess. Our newest 
 variety. 
 
 Amadop — (Seedling). — Medium size, bright scarlet, sweet, 
 moderately productive; small leaves. Its principal merit 
 is to be biennial and the first one to bear in the fall, as 
 early as August. 
 
 The varieties we procured from France are: Aurelie, 
 Bonne bouche, Bi lie de Nantes, Mithridafes, Bourguignonne. 
 
 The}^ will fruit for the first time with us next season 
 (1877); also the following varieties, obtained from a noted 
 fragariculturist of Ohio: Sterling, Norman, Margaret, Seth 
 Boyden, No. 28, Curiosity, S. B. Seedling. All these are 
 seedlings, while the above French varieties are hybrids. 
 
 Besides, we have other valuable American and English 
 varieties in full bearing, to wit: Wilson's Albany, Downer, 
 Kentucky, Green's Prolific, Metcalf, N. Y. Scarlet, French 
 (all American). 
 
 Bifleman, Garibaldi, Kimberly Pine, Virginia (English), 
 Everbearing variety, Buisson de Gaillon, or Bush-Alpine 
 (red). 
 
 C/^ 
 
FELIX aiLLET'S 
 
 Nursery of Fruit Trees, 
 
 Varieties introduced in California from Europe. 
 
 Walnut. 
 
 Proeparturiens. 
 
 Chestnut. 
 
 Marrou de L3'on, 
 Marron Combale. 
 
 Filberts. 
 
 White Aveline, 
 Red Aveline, 
 Grosse de Piedmont. 
 Du Chilly. 
 
 Pears. 
 
 Bergamotte, 
 Eoj'ale D'hiver, 
 Passe-Crassanne, 
 Duchesse d'Angouleme, 
 Doyenne D'hiver, 
 Beurre Clairgeau. 
 
 Apples. 
 
 White Calville, 
 Red Calville, 
 Igonette, 
 Canada Reinette, 
 Gros api, 
 Petit api. 
 
 Peaches. 
 
 Grosse mignonue, 
 Early purple, 
 Nivette. 
 
 Cherries. 
 
 Guigne marbree (very early). 
 Bigarreau de Mezel, 
 Noire luisante. 
 
 Almonds. 
 
 Duchesse, or Paper Shell. 
 
 Medlar. 
 
 Monstrueuse. 
 
 Plums. 
 
 White Green Gage, 
 D'Oulins Green Gage, 
 Violette Green Gage. 
 
 Mulberry. 
 
 Spanish Black. 
 
 Gooseberries, 
 
 Princess Royal, 
 Taylor's Belleroijhon, 
 Shadwick's Sportsman. 
 
 Currants. 
 
 Imperial White, 
 Imperial Red, 
 Cherry, 
 Black. 
 
 Grapes. 
 
 Thomery, Jalabert, Violet, Ob- 
 long, Tenerif, Malvoisie, Royal 
 Red, Pondicherj^ Rose, Pino, 
 Teinturier, Medoc, etc. 
 
 Besides, all the best Varieties already raised in California. 
 
SILK WORM EGGS 
 
 ALWAYS ON HAND 
 AT 
 
 ' FELIX GILLET'S 
 
 EXPERIMENTAL COCOONERY AND MULBERRY PLANTATION 
 
 Best varieties of Mulberry Trees 
 
 Silk ^VV^orra Feeding. 
 
 Grafted Kose-leaved, 
 
 Moms Japonica. 
 
 Both introduced in California, Utah and Mexico, 
 by FELIX GILLET, of Nevada City, Cal. 
 
 I Thirty - seven varieties of the choicest, largest and 
 most productive Strawberries. 
 
 (English, American, French and F. Gillet's seedlings.) 
 
 FRENCH EVERBEARING RASPBERRIES, 
 
 (Tliree Orops a Year*) 
 
 A. most splendid variety. 
 
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