March 20, 1866. ] 



JOUKNAL OF HOETICULTUEE A^D COTTAGE GAKDENER. 



213 



STRA'SMBERRY CULTURE. 



UDGING from what I have 

 seen and heard, many failed 

 last season who had been 

 successful m obtahung fau- 

 average crops of this fiiiit 

 in pre\-ious years : the fol- 

 lowing ma}', therefore, interest some of your readers, espe- 

 cially as in my case the crop of 1805 was the finest I ever 

 saw, particularly that of the British Queen. In 18(i4 I 

 gathered in one day from six rows of Black Prince, twenty- 

 fom- plants in a row, '-JO lbs. of fruit for preserving. Tliis crop 

 was seen by many gardeners, who pronounced it to be the 

 finest they had ever seen. My cultm-al operations do not 

 differ much from Jlr. Read's (see No. 'iSCi of tliis .Journal). 

 In fact, while WTiting this I feel I am occupying space 

 which might be better filled; but, as Mr. Read justly 

 remarks, " a very important feature of The Jocrxai, of 

 HoKTicuLTCRE is, that discussion and intercommunication 

 are invited on all matters of interest to its readers, " and 

 I may add, that if such intercommunication, &c., is carried 

 on in a friendly spuit it «iU do much to advance the cause 

 of gai'dening and gardeners : therefore I oti'er this for 

 insertion. 



The sorts whicli I have foimd most satisfactory are the 

 Black IMnce for earlj% Keens' Seedling for second, and the 

 British Queen for late production. 



On a north border tlie British Queen does well, and the 

 fr-uit is about ten days later than when gi'own m the open 

 bed. Several otliers of the older sorts have been tried, 

 but are not so good as the above. The comparatively-new 

 sorts I have not yet fairly tested, but the following I have 

 now under trial : — Sir Charles Napier, Sfr Hany, Frog- 

 more Late Pine, Elton, Eleanor, Carolina Superba, Princess 

 Alice Maude, and Oscar, of all wliich I ^\'ill speak when i 

 they have fruited this season. I also intend trying all 

 the new sorts as soon as I can obtain them, as good Straw- 

 berries are a great featm-e with my employers. 



The %-ai'ieties I first named supplied the table last year 

 without intermission from the first week in April tOl the 

 last week in July, a period of four months. I commenced 

 picking forced Strawberries to-day (March Tthi, and hope 

 to continue somewhat later tliis season than last with some 

 of the sorts above-named: therefore still farther prolong- 

 ing the season of tliis fruit. 



I may mention that the soil here is a very heavy loam 

 of one foot deep, resting on strong brick earth ; tliis soU I 

 believe to be more natural to tlie Strawbeny than any 

 other, for I have always found it do best in tliis description 

 of soil. 



The following is the mode of cultm-e which I have 

 practised. 



No. 260.— Vot. X., New Smaaa. 



As early in the winter as possible I select a piece of 

 gi-ound well exposed to the sun, trench it to the depth of 

 ■2 feet, putting a good dressing of manure at the bottom, 

 and laying the siu-face rough for the action of the frost. 

 In spiing a crop of Potatoes or any other vegetable of 

 quick gi-owth may be planted, but cai'e should be taken to 

 keep the soil quite free fi-om weeds : for, from experience, 

 I find that Strawberries dislike weeds as much as any jdant 



1 know. 



Early in .Time I select fr'om each weU-estabhshed plant 

 eight or ten of the best runners, and layer them in pots 

 filled irith rich soil (I prefer this method to pegging on 

 the gi-ound m hea%y soU), keep them well watered till they 

 have taken good root, wliich they -nill have done in about 

 fifteen or t^venty days if they have been properly layered, 

 and the soU. has not been allowed to become diy. They 

 are then severed from the parent plants, and ti-ansfeiTed to 

 a place well exposed to become a little more hardened ; 

 meanwhile the crop is cleared fi-om the gi-ound, and a good 

 dressing wheeled on, and dug in to the depth of 14 or 

 15 inches. The ground is then worked down nicely, and 

 the plants carefully tm-ned out of thefr pots, and planted in 

 rows 2 feet ."! inches apart, and i feet asimder in the rows. 

 Thi-ee rows ai'e planted in a bed, leaving the space of 



2 feet 9 inches between the tlui-d and fourth row : there is 

 consequently room to pass between the rows to water, 

 gather fr-uit, &c., -nithout treading the bed all over alike or 

 brui.shig the fi-uit at every step. The planting should be 

 perfoi-med duiing the afternoon if possible, as water can be 

 copiouslj' given towards evening -without much chance of 

 damage ; wliilst if the plantation is watered in the fore- 

 noon, and the sim happen to shine brightly soon afterwards, 

 more or less injuiy wiU be the result. " Tlie plants vriR 

 now reqiure plenty of water in tlry weather. Liquid ma- 

 nure will greatly benefit them till September, by which 

 time they will be well established, cai-e being taken dming 

 the whole of then- progress to keep the nmners cut off and 

 weeds pulled up as soon as seen : but I never allow a spade 

 or fork to bo used near the plants after they are planted. 



As early in November as I can prociu-e it I cover the 

 ground irith a lot of seaweed fi-om the beach, and let it 

 remain all the winter untouched : hi spi-ing the weeds ■«-ill 

 reqim-e attention again, but now and during the whole of 

 the summer vrill be foimd the advantage of the mulcliing ; 

 it vrUl prevent the weeds gi-owing so fast as they other- 

 %rise would do, save watering to a great extent, and keep 

 the fniit as clean as plates woidd. and as fi-ee fi-om slugs, 

 &c., as any precaution that could be adopted, whether 

 tying or anything else. If seaweed fall short, I use short 

 litter fi-om the stable-yai-d, but, as I\Ir. Read remarlvs, 

 ladies do not Hke the idea of eating Strawberries that 

 have been la^-iag on such material. Besides, the seaweed 

 has another beneficial effect on the plants — the salt con- 

 tained in the weed, when procm-ed from the beach, is washed 

 down to the roots, affording food to these, and keeping 

 them nearer the sm-face. The dh-ections for after-cropping 

 &c., are the same as for the first year, only sfronger hquid 

 manure may be given as soon as the crop has been gathered. 

 My experience on light soil has taught me that the ground 



lNo. 91-2.— Vol. XSXV., Old Series. 



