For April, 1923 



95 



Strawberries and Their Culture 



E. S. HUSSY 



STRA\\1>KRRI1-:S require a rich moist and fairly 

 heavy loam. Anything- approaching a light gravelly 

 shallow soil is useless ; hut where such exists it may be 

 iaiproved b\' a good ^digging or trenching, at the same 

 time adding plenty of well rotted manure or leaf soil. 

 The end of Jul_\- to the middle of August is alx)Ut the best 

 time for planting out strawberries because they get a good 

 start and become well rooted before anv hard weather 

 .-ets in. 



The commonest way of multiplying strawiberry plants 

 is by means of "runners." These runners are usually 

 produced freely in early Summer. In selecting the run- 

 ners to dbtain good results, the runners must be taken 

 from one year old plants, as they are strong an'd make an 

 early vigorous growth. They may be pegged do«'n or 

 layered to the ground, or into three-inch pots hlled with 

 soil. The latter is on the whole the better method, as 

 the young plant> when well rooted are more easily de- 

 tached from the parent plant and removed to the soil in 

 which they are to be planted. It is an excellent plan to 

 have no more than three or four runners on each plant, 

 cutting all the rest away. The runners must never be 

 allowed to get di-y. a little watering now and again will 

 help them. When they are well rooted they may be cut 

 away from the parent plant and placed close together 

 until the time ciimes for planting. 



Having the runners well rooted and the g'round prop- 

 erly prepared the ;)lants can be jilanted in rows two feet 

 apart and eighteen inches from plant to plant. Care must 

 be taken not to ]>lant too deeply as the crown or center of 

 the plant must not he in any way covered with the soil. 

 After planting tlie scul should be firmly trodden around 

 each j>lant as strawberries like good hard ground. Neg- 

 lect of this precaution often results in failure or bad crops. 

 A voting plantation should be made every year, so as to 

 keep up the supph- of good young plants. Two or three 

 year old plants produce the best and heaviest crops after 

 which they should be thrown awa_\-. Therefore it is most 

 essential that a young planting should be made every 

 year. Eixcept when new plants are required all runners 

 should be cut off as soon as they appear, as they weaken 

 the main ]'.lant. The soil near the strawberries should 

 never he dug as the roots would be nuich injured by the 

 process, for thev like good firm ground. Wihen growth 

 starts in the Snrinc;' a dressing of Nitrate of Soda on a wet 

 dav will help tlieni throughout their season. 



STRAWBERRIES IN POTS 



■"Pi ) have good strawljerries iii-doors the first thing to do 

 *■ is to select good strong runners from varieties that are 

 suitable for forcing. They should be layered into three- 

 inch pots filled firmly with rich loam as soon as they can 

 be handled. Having obtained new strong well rooted 

 plants, as descril^ed above, they should be potted into five 

 or six-inch ]X)ts using rich fibrous loam with a little well 

 rotted manure and a little wood ashes. The pots must 

 be well drained by means of cinders or broken pots. Be 

 sure .-md pot firmly, .\fterward give them a goo'd soaking 

 of water and place then\ in a shady spot for a few days 

 until they recover from their disturbance. TUit afterward 

 the\- cannot have too much sun and air tn develop and 

 ripen their growth. The greatest attention must be given 

 to watering, taking care that the jilants never become dry 

 or the young roots will become shrivelled up. 



( )n the ,i]>proach of cold frosty weather the plants may 



be removed to cold frames. They should be quite near 

 to the glass and always have as much light and air as 

 possible exce].)t on very cold days. Any time in Decem- 

 ber the plants can be removed to the forcing house, a 

 temperature of Ai'^ to 50° will suit the plants perfectly at 

 first. Watering and ventilation should always be care- 

 fully attended to and a syringing under and over the 

 foliage will be verv beneficial and check the attacks of 

 red spider. As the flower trusses begin to show, the tem- 

 perature may be increased to 55° to 58° and the syringing 

 should be discon.tinued after the blooms open. When the 

 frivits have set well, only the larger ones should be retained 

 for ripening, all the small ones being removed from each 

 truss. To assist the plants at this stage a little liquid 

 manure may be given about three times a week until the 

 fruits begin to color. Then pure water is best. The 

 plants need not all be forced at the same period, this may 

 iDe arranged by taking a few from the cold frame at in- 

 tervals of a week or a fortnight as required. 



THE CULTURE OF BEARDED IRISES 



""PROSE who have grown the old German Irises 

 ■*• for vears and been uniformly successful with them 

 althdui..;!! they have never spared a thought as to their 

 culture, will doubtless smile at my title. It is of 

 cciurse, true that in certain rather light, clean soils 

 these plants will flower freely and the blossoms will be 

 little out of character, even though the only attention 

 they receive is lifting and dixiding when they become 

 excessively overcrowded. 



Not everyone, however, has such natural soil, nor 

 will the possessor of such find it of much avail should 

 his plants unhappily become infected with rhizome-rot. 

 To obtain the best results with these Irises, partic- 

 ularly as regards size of flower, the soil should not be 

 over-light : it should, on account of the "rot" danger, 

 contain a fair percentage of lime, but it should not 

 contain any appreciable content of humus. Drainage 

 should be free, the site where they are planted open to 

 sun and air. and the rootstocks should at no time be 

 1)uried to more than half their depth. 



There seems no doubt that varieties which are shy 

 to flower — and some of the newer ones are rather shy 

 — flower best when planted in full sun and left to 

 establish themselves f(ir a year or so, but there is wide 

 scope for systematic inxestigation as to the compara- 

 tixe requirements of the different sections. Personal 

 experience vvotdd suggest that the squalens and varie- 

 gata sections are more weatherproof than the stately 

 jiallidas and trojanas, for instance. The former appear 

 to withstand with greater equanimity — if the word 

 mav be pardoned — Summer heat and Winter wet. 



The same remark will apply with equal force to' 

 ))lanting times. It is by no means clear which is, in 

 fact, the best planting season — indeed, there are con- 

 siderable differences of opinion on the question — but 

 may not the fact he. after all. that dift'erent sections 

 and. since so much intercrossing has taken pjlace. dif- 

 ferent varieties, even though somewhat similar in ap- 

 pearance, transplant best at separate seasons? — Tlie 

 Garden. 



A cheerful temper joined with iiuiocence will make 

 beautv attractive, knowledge delightful, and wit good- 

 natured. — Addison. 



