Success with Small Fruits Part 11

The confused uproar and rush of business around the Old Dominion steamship made a marked contrast. To the ample wharves every species of vehicle had been coming all day, while all kinds of craft, from a skiff to a large two-masted schooner, waiting their turn to discharge their freight of berry crates and garden produce, reached half across the Elizabeth river. The rumble of the trucks was almost like the roar of thunder, as scores of negroes hustled crates, barrels and boxes aboard.

Most of the time they were on a good round trot, and one had to pick his way with care; for, apparently, the truck was as thoughtful as the trundler.

As the long twilight fades utterly into night, the last crate is aboard. The dusky forms of the stevedores are seen in an old pontoon-shaped boat on their way to Portsmouth, but their outlines, and the melody of their rude song, are soon lost in the distance. The ship, that has become like a huge section of Washington Market, casts off her lines, and away we steam, diffusing on the night air the fragrance of a thousand acres, more or less, of strawberries.

It was late in the night that followed the next day before we reached New York, but on the great covered wharf, to which was given a noonday glare by electric light, there was no suggestion of the darkness and rain without. Various numbers, prominent on the sides of the building, indicated the lines of transit and the commission houses to which the immense, indiscriminate cargo was a.s.signed. With a heavy jar and rumble that would not cease till the ship was empty, a throng of white laborers wheel each package to its proper place. Mr. Young's crates soon grew into what seemed, in the distance, a good-sized mound. The number above them stood for Eldridge & Carpenter, West Washington Market. Thither we followed them the next morning, but found that the most of them had already been scattered throughout the city, and realized that the berries we had seen a few hours before on the strawberry farm were even then on uptown breakfast-tables.

CHAPTER XVII

FORCING STRAWBERRIES UNDER GLa.s.s

Trained gardeners need no instruction from me on this topic. There may be those, however, who have never given the subject attention, and who would be glad to learn some of the first principles of success in forcing this fruit for market; while a still larger number, having small conservatories and warm south windows, would be pleased to see a few strawberries blossoming and ripening, as an earnest of the coming June. There are no greater difficulties in the way than in having flowers, for it is merely a question of doing the right thing at the right time. I do not believe in a system of minute, arbitrary directions, so much as in the clear statement of a few general principles that will suggest what ought to be done. The strawberry plant has the same character indoors as out, and this fact alone, in view of what has been written, should suggest moisture, coolness, light, and air. I shall endeavor to present, however, each successive step.

First, prepare a compost of thoroughly rotted sods and the cleanings of the cow-stable, in the proportion of three parts sod-mould to one of manure. In the place of sods, decayed leaves, muck, sweetened by a year's exposure to air and frost, or any good, rich loam will answer.

With this compost, made fine and clean by pa.s.sing it through a coa.r.s.e sieve, fill in June, and not later than July, as many three-inch pots as you desire; then sink them to their rims along the sides of the rows from which you propose to obtain winter-bearing plants. Varieties best adapted for forcing are those of a low, stocky growth, bearing perfect flowers and sweet or high-flavored berries. I should say the Triomphe de Gand was the best, and I observe that it and the La Constante, which it closely resembles, are highly recommended abroad. The bush Alpines are said to do finely, and I should think the Black Defiance would answer well. Mr. Henderson speaks highly of the Champion, which, however, must be grown with a perfect-flowered kind, since it is a pistillate. From the parent row, guide the first runners so that they will take root in the pots. Let each runner form but a single, strong plant, which it will do in about two weeks, filling the pot with roots.

Then these plants, with their accompanying b.a.l.l.s of earth interlaced with roots, are ready to be shifted into pots of from six to eight inches in diameter, which also should be filled with the compost already described.

These larger pots should have three or four pieces of broken pottery in the bottom for drainage. One plant to each pot is sufficient, and the soil should be pressed firmly about the roots. The methods of growers now differ somewhat, but all agree in seeking to promote a continuous and healthy growth. It may be necessary to place the pots in a half-shady position for a few days, till the effects of shifting are over, and the roots have taken hold of the new soil. Then they should stand in an open, airy position, close together, where they can receive daily attention. Some recommend that they stand on boards, flagging, or bricks, or a layer of coal ashes, since earth-worms are thus kept out; others sink them in cold frames, where they can be protected somewhat from excessive heat and drenching storms; while others, still, sink the pots in the open ground, where it is convenient to care for and water them. It is obvious that moisture must be steadily and continuously maintained, and the plants be made to do their best until about the first of October. After this, they should be watered very sparingly--barely kept moist--since it is now our aim to ripen the foliage and roots and induce a season of rest. At the same time, they should not be permitted to dry out. About the first of November, an old hot-bed pit can be filled with dry leaves and the pots plunged in them, close together, up to their rims, and, as the season grows colder, the tops can be covered, so as to prevent the earth in the pots from freezing. The top of the pit can be covered with boards to keep out the wet, but not so tightly as to exclude the air. Our aim is to keep the plants dormant, and yet a little above freezing, and barely moist enough to prevent the slightest shrivelling. Since it requires from ten to fourteen weeks to mature the fruit under gla.s.s, it would be well to subject some of the plants to heat early in October, so as to have ripe berries at the holidays. They can thereafter be taken from the storage place every two or three weeks, so as to secure a succession. By this course, also, if a mishap befalls one lot of plants, there still remain several chances for winter fruit.

In the forcing process, follow nature. The plants do not start suddenly in spring, but gradually awaken into life. The weather, also, is comparatively cool when they are blossoming. If these hints are not taken in the green-house, there may be much promise but little fruit.

If the heat is turned on too rapidly when the plants begin to bloom, the calyx and corolla will probably develop properly, but the stamens will be dest.i.tute of pollen, while the pistils, the most complicated part of the flower, and that which requires the longest time for perfect formation, become "a mere tuft of abortions, incapable of quickening, and shrivelling into pitch-black threads as soon as fully in contact with the air." Let the conditions within-doors accord as far as possible with those under the open sky. The roots require coolness, continuous and evenly maintained moisture. One check from over-dryness may cause serious and lasting injury. The foliage needs air and light in abundance. Therefore the pots should be on shelves close to the gla.s.s; otherwise the leaf and fruit stalks will be drawn and spindling.

If the pot can be shaded while the plant is in full light, all the better. When first introduced, the temperature should not exceed 45 degrees or 50 degrees. Air must be freely admitted at all times, though much less will suffice, of course, in cold than in warm weather. Watch the foliage, and if it begins to grow long and without substance, give more air and less heat. An average of 55 degrees to 70 degrees by day may be allowed, and from 45 degrees to 50 degrees by night.

When the flower buds begin to open, the forcing must be conducted more slowly and evenly, so as to give the delicate organs time to perfect; but after the fruit is set, the heat can be increased till it occasionally reaches 75 degrees at midday. After the fruit begins to color, give less water--barely sufficient to prevent any check in growth, and the fruit will be sweeter and ripen faster. The upper blossoms may be pinched off, so as to throw the whole strength of the plant into the lower berries. Keep off all runners; syringe the plants if infested with the red spider, and if the aphis appears, fumigate him with tobacco.

The plants that have fruited need not be thrown away as useless. If they are turned out of the pots into rich, moist soil, in April, and the runners are kept off all summer, they will make large, bushy stools, which will give a fine crop in autumn.

The amateur, with a small conservatory or south window, by approximating as far as possible to the conditions named, can achieve a fair success. I have had plants do moderately well by merely digging them from the beds late in the fall, with considerable rich earth clinging to their roots, and then potting with more rich soil, and forcing them at once. Of course, fine results cannot be expected from such careless work, but _some_ strawberries can be raised with very little trouble. If one, however, wished to go into the business on a large and scientific scale, I would recommend a straw berry-house, designed by Mr. William Ingram, gardener at Belvoir Castle. A figure of the structure may be seen on page 74 in Mr. Fuller's valuable work, "The Small Fruit Culturist." On the same principles that we have been describing, the ripening of strawberries can be hastened by the use of hot beds, cold frames, and ordinary sash.

During the Christmas holidays strawberries sell readily at from $4 to $8 per quart, and handsome fruit brings high prices till March; but the profit of raising them under gla.s.s threatens to diminish in future years, since Florida berries begin to arrive freely even in February.

There are those who now seem to be doing well in the business of forcing, if we may judge from the jealousy with which they guard the open secrets of their calling from their neighbors.

A rough and ready method of forcing is to dig up clumps of plants during a mild spell in winter or early spring, put them in boxes or pots of rich earth, and take them into the green-house. Considerable fruit is sometimes ripened in this way.

An English writer says: "We find forced strawberries mentioned as being served at an installation dinner, April 23d, 1667; but the idea had already occurred to the great Lord Bacon, who writes, 'As we have housed the exotics of hot countries, so we may house our natives to forward them, and thus have violets, strawberries, and pease all winter.'"

CHAPTER XVIII

ORIGINATING NEW VARIETIES--HYBRIDIZATION

This chapter introduces us to great diversities of opinion, and to still greater differences in experience; and I fear that I shall leave the subject as indefinite as I find it. The scientist best versed in botany and the laws of heredity can here find a field that would tax his best skill for a lifetime, and yet a child may amuse himself with raising new kinds; and it would not be impossible that, through some lucky combination of nature, the latter might produce a variety that would surpa.s.s the results of the learned man's labor. As in most other activities of life, however, the probabilities are on the side of skill and continuous effort.

We have already shown that all the seeds of the _F. Virginiana_ and _F.

Chilensis may_ produce a new variety. These seedlings often closely resemble the parent or parents, and sometimes are practically identical with one of them; more often they present distinct differences. It is wholly impossible to predict the character of seedlings as they usually are produced. If we could obtain pure specimens of the two great species, and cross them, the element of chance would not enter into the result so largely as must be the case when seed is gathered in our gardens. The pedigrees of but few varieties are known, and in many instances the two great races are so mingled that we can only guess which element predominates, by the behavior and appearance of the plants. The kinds with which we start are hybrids, and, as Mr. A. S.

Fuller sagaciously remarks, "Hybridizing, or crossing hybrids, is only mixing together two compounds, the exact proportions of neither being known." Therefore, the inevitable element of chance. Disagreeable traits and shiftless ways of strawberry grandparents and great-grandparents may develop themselves in a seedling produced by the union of two first-cla.s.s varieties. At the same time it is possible that fine ancestral qualities may also a.s.sert themselves. The chance seedling, which comes up in a garden where good varieties have been raised, may prove a prize. The Forest Rose was found growing in a vineyard. If we propose to raise seedlings, however, we will, of course, select seeds from the best fruit of fine varieties, even in our first and most rudimental efforts. Before making any serious or prolonged attempt to originate new varieties, it would be well to familiarize ourselves with certain principles, and gather experience from the successes and failures of others. We have seen that the _F.

Virginiana_ is the native species of the eastern section of our continent, and that its vigor and hardiness best adapt it to our extremes of climate. It were best to start, therefore, with the most vigorous strains and varieties of this hardy species. It is true that fine results can be obtained from crossing varieties of the _F.

Chilensis_ with our native species--the President Wilder proves this--but few of such products are adapted to the country at large, and they will be almost sure to falter on light soils. We will achieve our best success in developing our native species. By observation, careful reading of the horticultural journals, and by correspondence, the propagator can learn what varieties show vigor and productiveness throughout a wide range of country, and in great diversities of soil and climate. These st.u.r.dy kinds, that seem bent on doing well everywhere, should be the robust forefathers of the strawberries of the future. Starting with these, we are already well on the way toward the excellence we hope to attain. The pith of our difficulty now is to make any further advance. How can we surpa.s.s that superb group of berries that prove their excellence year after year?

As Mr. Durand well puts it, new varieties, to be of value, should produce berries that "measure from four to eight inches in circ.u.mference, of good form, color and flavor; very large specimens are not expected to be perfect in form, yet those of medium size should always be. The calyx should never be imbedded in the flesh, which should be sufficiently firm to carry well, and withstand all changes of our variable climate. The texture should be fine, flesh rich, with a moderate amount of acid--no more than just sufficient to make it palatable with sugar as a table berry. The plant should be hardy, vigorous, large, and strong; of great endurance as to climatic change, and able to stand any amount of manure of the right kind. It should be a prolific bearer, with stalks of sufficient length to keep the fruit out of the dirt, and bear its berries of nearly uniform size to the end. Any serious departure from such necessary qualities would be fatal to any new variety."

What is the use of spending time on varieties that do not possess these good qualities, or many of them, so pre-eminently that they supersede those already in our gardens? Shall I root out the Charles Downing, Seth Boyden, and Monarch, and replace them with inferior kinds because they are new? That is what we have been doing too extensively. But if, in very truth, varieties can be originated that do surpa.s.s the best we now have, then both common-sense and self-interest should lead to their general cultivation. I believe that honest and intelligent effort can secure a continued advance in excellence which will probably be slow, but may be sure.

The public, however, will suffer many disappointments, and every year will buy thousands of some extravagantly praised and high-priced new variety, in hope of obtaining the ideal strawberry; and they so often get a good thing among the blanks that they seem disposed to continue indefinitely this mild form of speculation. In the final result merit a.s.serts itself, and there is a survival of the fittest. The process of winnowing the wheat from the chaff is a costly one to many, however, I have paid hundreds of dollars for varieties that I now regard as little better than weeds. From thorough knowledge of the best kinds already in cultivation, the propagator should not impose any second-rate kind on the public. And yet the public, or the law which the public sustains, renders this duty difficult. If a man invents a peculiar nutmeg-grater, his patent protects him; but if he discovers, or originates, a fruit that enriches the world, any one who can get it, by fair means or foul, may propagate and sell to all. To reap any advantages, the originator must put his seedling, which may have cost him years of effort, into the market before it is fully and widely tested. If he sends it for trial to other localities, there is much danger of its falling into improper hands. The variety may do splendidly in its native garden, and yet not be adapted to general cultivation. This fact, which might have been learned by trial throughout the country before being sent out, if there was protective law, is learned afterward, to the cost of the majority who buy. In view of the above considerations, it is doubtful whether the pecuniary reward will often repay for the time, trouble, and expense which is usually required to produce a variety worthy of general introduction. Other motives than money must actuate. As Mr.

Durand once said, when so perplexed by the difficulties and complications of his labor, and so disheartened by the results that he was inclined to throw down the burden, "There is a fascination that binds me still." In other words, he was engaged in one of the divinest forms of alchemy.

Having procured the vigorous stock from which we hope to obtain still stronger and more productive varieties, we may go to work several ways.

We may plant our choice varieties in close proximity, and let the bees and summer gales do the hybridizing. It will be remembered that the organs of procreation in the perfect strawberry blossom are the pistils on the convex receptacle and the encircling stamens. The anthers of the latter produce a golden powder, so light that it will float on a summer breeze, and so fine that insects dust themselves with it and carry it long distances. When this dust, which is called pollen, comes in contact with the stigma of a pistil, it imparts the power of development both to the seed and that which sustains it--the receptacle which is eventually transformed into the juicy pulp. If the pistils are not fertilized, there will be no strawberries, as well as no seeds.

Perfect-flowering varieties, therefore, are self-fertilizing. There are stamens and pistils in the same flower, and the pollen from the former impregnates the latter. In view of this fact, the probabilities are all against success in obtaining an improved variety. While the pollen _may_ pa.s.s from one perfect-flowering kind to another, and produce a seed which will give a new combination, the chances of self-fertilization, and that, in consequence, the seeds will produce degenerate and somewhat varying counterparts of the parent, are so great that it is a waste of time to plant them. There is little to be hoped, therefore, from the seed of perfect-flowering kinds left to nature's influences.

In this country, we have pistillate varieties, or those that are wholly dest.i.tute of stamens. Mr. Fuller says that, for some reason, they do not originate abroad. It is obvious that, with these pistillates, we can attain a direct cross with some staminate or perfect-flowering variety; but if our pistillates grow openly in the garden, near several staminates, the seeds sown may have been fertilized by the poorest of them, or by pollen from wild strawberries, brought by the wind or insects. It is all haphazard work, and we can only guess at the parentage of the seedlings. There is no skilful combination of good qualities, such as the stock farmer makes when he mingles good blood.

Gathering the seed, therefore, in our gardens, even under the most favorable auspices, is the veriest game of hazard, with nearly all the chances against us; and yet superb varieties are occasionally procured in this way. Indeed, as we have seen, they sometimes come up themselves, and a.s.sert their merit wholly unaided. By such methods, however, the propagator has not one chance in thousands, as much experience shows.

We are, therefore, led to isolate our plants, and to seek intelligently and definitely to unite the good qualities of two distinct varieties.

If they have no pistillate plants abroad, they must remove all the stamens from some perfect flower before they are sufficiently developed to shed their pollen, and then fertilize the pistils with the stamens of the other variety whose qualities they wish to enter into the combination. There is no need of our doing this, for it involves much trouble and care at best, and then we are always haunted by the fear that the stamens were not removed in time, or so completely as to prevent self-fertilization. With such pistillate varieties as the Golden Defiance, Champion, Spring-dale, and Crescent, we have as robust motherhood as we require.

In order to present to the reader the most approved systems of hybridization, I will give the methods of two gentlemen who are among the best known in relation to this subject.

The late Mr. Seth Boyden won world-wide celebrity by his success, and the berry named after him will perpetuate his memory for many years to come. When grown under the proper conditions, it presents a type of excellence still unsurpa.s.sed.

Mr. Boyden's neighbor, Mr. Ogden Brown, of Hilton, N. J., writes to me as follows:

"My method of raising seedlings is the one practiced by Mr. Boyden. In August I set the plants from which I wish to secure new combinations in a plot of ground the size of my gla.s.s frame, and in early spring set the frame over them, so that the plants may blossom before any others.

Thus, no mixture from the pollen of outside plants can take place, for none are in bloom save those in the frame. The plants within the frame are two or three pistillate plants, all of one good variety like the Champion; and three or four superior, perfect-flowering kinds, any one of which, I think, will make a good combination with the pistillate variety. The seeds from the pistillate only are used, and when the fruit is ripened, these seeds are slightly dried and placed between two pieces of ice for about two weeks. I then put them in pure sand, wrapped up in a wet rag, and keep them sufficiently near the fire to preserve constant warmth until the germs are ready to burst forth. I then sow the seeds in a bed of finely riddled rich earth, and cover with boards about six inches from the soil. This is to prevent the sun from drying the ground. Plants thus raised will be sufficiently large to set in the fruiting-bed in September. In the fifteen years that I was acquainted with Mr. Boyden, I never knew him to fail in raising fruit from these plants the following summer. I do not know that Mr.

Boyden's method has been improved upon."

Mr. J. M. Merrick, Jr., recommends this same isolation of the pistillate plant under gla.s.s.

It should be distinctly understood that while several perfect-flowering plants may be placed under the sash with a pistillate, the pollen of only one of these can fertilize a pistil. Mixing pollen from different kinds will never produce in a seedling the qualities of three or more varieties. The seedling is the product of two kinds only. Inclosing the plants in a frame ensures that all the pistils are fertilized by one or the other of the perfect-flowered varieties that are so fine as to promise a better combination of excellence than yet exists. The appearance of the seedling will probably show which of the kinds formed the combination, but often there would be uncertainty on this point, I think.

Mr. E. W. Durand, who sent out the Black Defiance, Great American, Beauty, Pioneer, and several others, claims that the "true method is to propagate by pairs, each parent possessing certain distinctive features." "My course," he writes, in a paper read before the N. J.

State Horticultural Society, "is to select my pistillates after years of trial, subject them to severe tests, and place alongside of each such a staminate as I think will harmonize and produce a certain desired effect. Another pistillate plant, of the same variety, is placed far away from the last, with a different staminate, and so on, till I exhaust the staminates or perfect-flowering kinds that I wish to test with that pistillate variety. Of late years, I have used but two or three kinds of pistillate plants, and they are a combination of excellence. I never show them to my most intimate friends, and the public know nothing about them. The years of trial and experiment necessary to produce such plants must necessarily discourage a beginner; yet it is the only course that will lead to success."

I think that Mr. Durand takes too gloomy a view of the subject, and I can see no reason why any one starting with such pistillates as the Golden Defiance, Champion, and others, may not originate a variety superior to any now in existence. At the same time, I must caution against over-sanguine hopes. Mr. Durand states the interesting fact that he generally produces 3,000 new varieties annually, and including the year 1876, he had already originated about 50,000 seedlings. While some of these have already secured great celebrity, like the Great American, I do not know of one that promises to maintain a continued and national popularity. I regard his old Black Defiance and the later Pioneer as his best seedlings, so far as I have seen them. Very many others do not have even his success. We may have to experiment for years before we obtain a seedling worth preserving; nevertheless, in the heart of each propagator lurks the hope that he may draw the prize of prizes.

I will close this chapter with a few simple and practical suggestions.

It is not necessary to place the seeds in ice. They may be sown in July, in rich soil, rendered fine and mellow, and in a half-shady position; and the surface should be kept moist by watering, and a sprinkling of a little very fine compost, that will prevent the ground from baking. Some of the seeds will germinate that season, more will come up the following spring. Or, they may be started in a cold frame under gla.s.s, and hastened in their growth so that good-sized plants are ready for the fruiting-bed by September. Mr. Durand plants his seed in the spring, and the seedlings bear the following year. The plants should be set eighteen inches apart each way in the fruiting-bed. When they blossom, note and mark all the pistillates as such. Those that grow feebly, and whose foliage scalds or burns in the sun, root out at once. The Spartan law of death to the feeble and deformed should be rigorously enforced in the fruit garden. The first year of fruiting will satisfy you that the majority of seedlings are to be thrown away.

Those that give special promise should be lifted with a large ball of earth, and planted where they may be kept pure from mixture, and given further trial. Remember that a seedling may do better the first year than ever after, and that only a continued and varied trial can prove its worth. All runners should be kept off, unless the ground is infested with grubs, and there is danger of losing a promising variety of which we have but one specimen. If so fortunate as to raise superior seedlings, test them side by side, and under the same conditions with the best kinds in existence, before calling to them public attention.

Try them, also, in light and heavy soils; and, if possible, send them to trusted friends who will subject them to varied climates in widely separated localities. If, however, you find them vigorous and productive on the light, poor soil of your own place, you may hope much for them elsewhere. No berry will be generally popular that requires much petting. I only state this as a fact. In my opinion, some varieties are so superb in size and flavor that they deserve high culture, and well repay it.

It is a question whether, except for the purposes of propagation, pistillate varieties should be preserved and sent out. Mr. Fuller and others take ground against them, and their views are ent.i.tled to great respect, but with such kinds as the Golden Defiance and Champion in my garden, I am not prepared to condemn them. One objection urged against them is that many purchase a single variety, and, should it prove a pistillate, they would have no fruit. They would not deserve any, if they gave the subject so little attention. Every fruit catalogue states which are pistillates, and their need of a perfect-flowering kind near them. Again, it is urged that this necessary proximity of two kinds leads to mixtures. It need not, and, with the plant grower, can only result from gross carelessness. The different beds may be yards apart.

In order to secure thorough fertilization, it is not at all necessary to plant so near that the two kinds can run together. In a large field of pistillates, every tenth row should be of a staminate, blossoming at the same time with the pistillate. The Kentucky seedling is a first-cla.s.s staminate, but it should not be used to fertilize the Crescent, since the latter would almost be out of bloom before the former began to blossom. Plant early pistillates with early staminates, and late with late.