DOMESTIC NOTICES 



manner. If the soil is wet and cold, drain it 

 ■well, trench it 2 feet deep, and put in plenty of 

 old lane rubbish and rotten manure. If the soil 

 is a good loam and does not lay low, trench it 2 

 feet, and to every layer of earth put on a layer 

 of old rotten dung. The manure from old 

 hot-beds is the best for this purpose ; in the 

 absence of that, use the best that can be had. 

 I prefer wide and shallow borders, say two feet 

 deep and 20 or 24 feet wide. Such a border as 

 this will cost no more than for an asparagus 

 bed tlie same size, but it should be mulched 

 with rotten manure every summer, and forked 

 in in spring. I would like to give my method 

 of attendance to the vines during the growing 

 season, but fear I have already extended my 

 notes too far. Yours most respectfully, Wm. 

 Webster. Rochester, Feb. 4, 1851. 



[AYe shall be glad to have our correspond- 

 ent's routine of vinery culture. We are not in 

 favor of excessive feeding of vine borders — but 

 we do not think a border will continue to give 

 good grapes for many seasons, unless it contains 

 at least one fourth of its whole bulk of good 

 active animal manure — stable manure we pre- 

 fer. Ed.] 



Planting Strawberry Beds. — Pray give 

 a new subscriber, who has not your back vo- 

 lumes to refer to, some plain directions for ma- 

 king a few strawberry beds, for the supply of a 

 small family. When is the best season for 

 planting ; what are the best sorts, and how shall 

 the soil be prepared? Yours. A. H. New- 

 London, Ct. 



Answer. — The month of April is the best 

 time to plant strawberries in the whole year. 



If you wish the largest and finest fruit, you 

 must make the soil deep and rich. The best 

 manure for the strawberry, is either poudrette, 

 (we can recommend that of the Lodi Manufac- 

 turing Co., New- York,) or decomposed stable 

 manure. If you have these, trench the soil 

 two feet deep, mixing in a very liberal dressing 

 of either of these manures, throughout the 

 whole depth. Supposing, as is too often the 

 case with beginners, that you have nothing but 

 fresh stable manure, then, when you are trench- 

 ing, bury this stable manure in the lower- spit, 

 (i. e., the lower of the two feet trenched.) To 

 a good manuring, you should trench in 



much stable manure as will be equal in bulk 



to one-third of this lower foot of earth. The 

 reason for trenching it among the lower spit is, 

 that it may be decomposed before the roots of 

 the strawberries reach it. If mixed with the 

 top spit, it would do more harm than good. 



Having thus trenched and manured the soil, 

 form it into beds three and a half feet wide. 

 Draw three lines lengthwise through the beds, 

 and set the young plants along these lines, about 

 4 inches apart. During the summer, the beds 

 must be kept stirred with the hoe, and all run- 

 ners should be cut off, that extend more than 

 a couple of inches beyond the lines. You will 

 thus have three rows of strawberries about ten 

 inches apart — -between which, the next season, 

 you can lay straw or tan-bark, which will both 

 keep down the weeds, and keep the fruit clean. 

 This straw or tan may thereafter keep its 

 place — the runners must be kept clipped, and 

 a little additional straw or tan laid over the 

 plants at the approach of winter, and removed 

 again in the spring. 



In this way — digging in a top-dressing of 

 spent manure or poudrette between the rows 

 every spring, your strawberry beds may be 

 kept in good condition for four years — at the 

 end of which time they must be abandoned, and 

 new ones planted to take their place. 



If, however, you do not wish the trouble of 

 cultivating the plants so carefully, then plant 

 them in the same way, and allow the runners 

 to cover and occupy the whole bed. This they 

 will do the same season, and the next year will 

 give you an abundant crop — the fruit not so 

 large as in the first case, but perhaps ratlier 

 more in quantity. But the bed will only Last 

 one year, and you must make a new one every 

 spring, to supply the place of the old one. 



As to sorts, if you are to plant but three, let 

 them be Large Early Scarlet, Burr'&New Pine, 

 and Hovey's Seedling. If four, add Rival Hud- 

 son^ if five, Swainstone Seedling. There are 

 many other good sorts, but this selection will 

 probably prove most valuable to you. The 

 White-wood is a nice, delicate, small fruit, and 

 bears a long time, and is a pretty contrast in a 

 dish of red strawberries. 



Making New Lawns. — As we have had nu- 

 merous inquiries lately, repecting the laying 

 down of grass surfaces for lawns, we shall com- 

 press our answers into one, and make it public 



