Augnst 15, 1885. ] 



JOURN.Ui OF HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



121 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



THE CUTTT'RE OF THE STU.VWnEP.RY. 



HROUGHOUT the land, ex- 

 cept ill a few places, the ciy 

 has been, " Tlie Strawberry 

 crop is a complete i'ailure." 

 Witli me it has been quite 

 tlie reverse, for I never had, 

 and never saw, such an ex- 

 traordinary crop as my beds liave produced tills season. 

 The kinds I grow are Sii- Hany, Sir Charles Napier, 

 Comtc de Paris, Keens' Seedling, Reeves' EeHpse, Caro- 

 lina Supcrba. and Cuthill's Black I'l-inoc ; these have all 

 done equally well. 



I think the cause of the failiu'e may, in many instances, 

 be attiibuted to two cu'curastances, each of them most 

 unportant in the successfid cultivation of the StrawbeiTv. 

 Tlie tirst is, that in preparing the ground the soU has not 

 been trenclied sufficiently deep, and the manure, instead of 

 being put into the bottom of the trenches, has been mixed 

 with the soU. near the surface. When this is the case most 

 of the I'oots remain near the surface, and the consequence 

 is they are soon dried up by the snn m a hot and dry 

 season lilce the present. To prevent this, mv mode of prc- 

 paiing the ground for the Strawberr}- is as foUows, and I 

 adopt the same piinciple with most kinds of vegetables, 

 and for flower-beds as well. In the first place I trench the 

 soil as deeply as possible : if I can go to a depth of 2 feet 

 (■) inches or -3 feet without bringing any cla}-, sand, or other 

 bad soil to the smface I do so. For Strawl)emes I put 

 2 inches of good rotten mamu'e in the bottom of every 

 trench, and tliis is rlone with the whole of the jiiece of gi'Oimd 

 intended for the Strawberry plantation. Tho manm-e being 

 placed m the bottom of the ti'ench the sun, however hot and 

 dry the weather may be, cannot injiu'e the Strawbeny plants, 

 for the roots -n-ill natm-ally go do\vii m search of the food. 

 They are therefore seem-e fi'om injuiy ; and the amoimt of 

 moistm'e tliey receive witli their food enables them to ^■^■itll- 

 staud any amount of dry weather, if the next important 

 operation ui connection witli their successful cultivation 

 has been properly attended to, wliich is mulcliing them 

 m autiunii to prevent injmy from frost, and early ui 

 spiing to prevent evaporation dining siuniner. I find 

 the best material for tins pm-pose, is partly decomposed 

 leaves at the autumn mulchmg. and for the spring di'essmg 

 slate marl. I know this is not to be obtamed m many 

 pai'ts of the Idngdom, but where it can be had it is the 

 finest substance possible for them, especially if the soU is 

 light ; it keeps the groimd cool and moist, and if the liunps 

 are put pretty thickly between the rows early in February 

 or March they will become pulverised before the plants 

 come into flower, when the small pieces of marl should be 

 spread evenly all over the surface of the beds, taking care 

 No. 229.-V0L. IX., New Series. 



tliat the gi'ound is nicely covered all round the plants. 

 Tliis is best done by going over tiie beds after the marl 

 has been spread, and liolding the leaves of the plant in 

 one Ijand, and scraping llie small pieces round the plant 

 with the other. Where marl cannot be had. use the same 

 material for the spring mulching as that recommended for 

 tlie autumn. 



Now is the proper time to prepare the runners ; these 

 should be taken ofl', and piiekod-out ui beds of good rich 

 soil, about 3 niches apart, in rows fi or S inches asunder. 

 They should remain in their nm-sery-beds till about the 

 end of February or beghming of March, wlien they should 

 bo planted in the permanent beds. ]^y tliis time they will 

 have made good strong plants, and if enough young plants 

 have been pricked-out in the autumn none hni those really 

 good and healthy need be put in the permanent beds. 



AVlien the beds are planted pei'manently m the autumn 

 the young plants are not sufficiently developed : hence it 

 often happens that many bhaid plants are seen m the beds, 

 which makes these appear unsightly, besides causing a 

 waste of space. In preparing the young plants it is a good 

 plan to leave an uich or two of the rmmer attached to 

 them. If tliey have not good roots wlien fliey are taken 

 ofl' tliis helps to keep tlic plants firm in tlie gromid. if the 

 soil is nicely pressed about them when they are pricked-out. 

 I lilie spring planting too, for this reason — tlie slight check 

 the plants receive does them good, and the number of roots 

 which they emit after the second planting is double that of 

 ]ilants put in permanently in autumn. Nearly all the pomts 

 of the roots are broken off in removal, so that the plant has 

 double and treble the number of mam roots to establish 

 itself with when it is finally planted in the permanent bed. 



I consider fresh beds should be made every year. I 

 never allow a bed to remain after the thii-d year. I arrange 

 my Strawberry gi-ound so that I can destroy two or three 

 beds, and make the same number each year. Under this 

 system the beds are always m the best possible condition. 



In order to keep the fruit clean, instead of using straw 

 or litter for the berries to lie on. I have a lot of sticks pre- 

 pared ; these are stuck in around the plants soon after 

 they have done blooming, and some small twine is then 

 wi-apped around them in two places, of which one is about 

 o niches fi-om the gi'ound, and the other at .5 mches. This 

 plan, although it is rather more troublesome at first, saves 

 time in the end, and it has many advanta,E;es over the old 

 system. 1st, It saves the fruit from bemg spoilt by Ijing 

 on the damp straw, and the fruit will also hang longer on 

 the plant because the air can circulate more fi'eely amongst 

 them, and hi damp weather it prevents then- tastmg of the 

 straw ; :>ndly, the Sti'awberry season is prolonged ten 

 days or more, because the ripe fruit can be gathered more 

 readily without injury to the young gxeen fruit when they 

 are resting on the strings in the manner described above ; 

 and 'irdly, a bed of Strawberries wiien tied-up ui this way 

 presents a most beautiful appearance. I shoidd mention 

 tliat in putting tho string avoimd the sticks it shoidd be 

 hitched once round each stick, and about five or six sticks 

 are required for each plant. I use Willow twigs after they 

 have been cut a few months, as they are more easily cut out, 



No. 881.— yoL. XXXrV., Old Series. 



