Propagation and Renewal 235 



factory as potted plants. The unrooted tips are cut from 

 maiden plants; or runners may be used that have been 

 thinned from the rows of spring-set plants. Make a cut- 

 ting bed of mellow loam on a well-drained, sunny site, 

 accessible to the hydrant. If a coldframe is placed over it, 

 and the soil banked up on the outside, it will be easier to 

 care for the plants (Plate XIX). Cut the runners in June 

 or July, put them in wet burlap sacks and carry them im- 

 mediately to shade. About one inch of the runner cord 

 should be left attached to each plant. Part of the leaves 

 should be trimmed off from the larger plants. Set the 

 cuttings firmly in the soil, about three inches apart each 

 way, with the node from which the roots will start just 

 below the surface. The cutting bed is shaded with cotton 

 cloth in sunny or windy weather and watered twice a day at 

 first, once a day later. Remove the shade at night and 

 on cloudy days ; after the plants have begun to root, grad- 

 ually remove it altogether. In about two weeks the plants 

 should be well rooted and may be transplanted to the field 

 where they are to fruit, after being watered thoroughly 

 so that the soil will adhere to the roots. Varieties that 

 make few runners, or that root with difficulty, may be 

 propagated by cuttings to advantage. 



Seeds. 



Seedage is used only with the Alpines, and in breeding 

 new varieties. Variation, induced by cultivation, as well 

 as crossing, causes the seedlings of the common varieties 

 to differ widely from their parents; they do not "come 

 true." The variation in seedlings of the Alpines is not 

 marked. The berries are picked when dead ripe, crushed, 

 and the seeds separated by rubbing the pulp in dry sand 

 or loam until seeds and soil are mixed ; or the surface of 



