468 THE GARDENER. [Oct. 



and tied to a short stake, so that they may not be lost among the multiplicity of 

 plants and flowers by which they may be surrounded. As soon as the fruit is 

 thoroughly ripe, they must at once be separated from the pulp, either by wash- 

 ing in water or by being bruised upon a sheet of paper, and exposed to the 

 influences of the sun until thoroughly dry. In either case they muse be 

 thoroughly dried, after which they may be ])laced in a small box and covered up 

 with fine dry sand until spring, when they may be sown. Some cultivators sow 

 in autumn on an open border, but sowing on a gentle hot-bed in spring we con- 

 sider the most expeditious method. In March a gentle hot-bed may be formed 

 of fermenting materials, and covered over by a few inches of nice rich soil, having 

 a top-dressing of fine-sifted soil to the depth of half an inch. Upon this the seed 

 may be sown as regularly and thinly as possible, to prevent overcrowding when 

 the young plants come up. Cover the seed with about one-eighth of an inch of 

 the same fine-sifted material, gently watering the whole with nice tepid water, 

 replacing the lights upon the fi-ame, and the work is accomplished. All that is 

 now necessary is to attend to the airing of the frame in bright sunshine, and 

 watering the surface when the soil becomes dry. This, however, must be done 

 with care, as if the weather is dark and dull when the young plants are coming 

 up, there is danger of their being damped off if too much water is used. The 

 plants should appear in the course of from three to five weeks, when they must 

 be attended to with care. After they have formed two or three leaves, let them 

 be gently hardened off until they are fit for planting out into nursery-beds. For 

 this purpose a nice sheltered corner ought to be selected and well prepared, 

 giving it a liberal amount of manure. Into this the seedlings may be planted, 

 allowing & inches plant from plant. In this they will make rapid progress, and 

 in the course of three or four weeks will be ready for planting into their perma- 

 nent positions in the "trial" or "proving ground.'* During this stage of their 

 growth care must be taken to prevent the production of runners, which must 

 at once be destroyed as soon as they are seen, as their production will prove 

 highly injurious to the wellbeing of the youLg plant. The following season 

 these seedlings ought to produce sufficient fruit to enable the cultivator to make 

 a selection — reserving the best for further trial, and discarding those that are 

 apparently useless. James M'Millan. 



{To he cmitinued.) 



— a-S'-S^^-s^-s — 



STRAWBERRIES. 



In the failure in the case of our Strawberries generally this year out 

 of doors, there will always remain something as a cause that we have 

 not yet fathomed. We may attribute it to the soil, and we may 

 attribute it to the previous season, which was hot and dry, together 

 with the late continual rains, which produced a second growth, which 

 might not have got properly ripened ; but these circumstances — that is, 

 soil and season — no doubt, had all to do with it. Some soils will only 

 produce very good crops on the same piece of ground for three or four 

 years successively — and so, I believe, will ours ; whereas, again, others 

 will produce to twice as long a period without any great diminution 

 of the crop. The influence of locality, using the plainest term, has to 



