General Notices. 449 



However, many amateurs sadly neglect these commonplace matters in tend- 

 ing dahlias and other fancy things, and in their case the only remedy is to 

 clear the plantations at once. Carefully remove all runners, and, where the 

 plants are too thick, some may be dug up, or portions of the crown taken 

 away, to allow full ingress to the sun and air. Do not interfere with the 

 leaves, unless you find any withered, when they can be of no further use. 

 On the healthiness and long continuance of the foliage this year, will de- 

 pend the strength and fruitfulness of your plants next season. We ex- 

 plained the reason of this in a recent paper on asparagus, and need not go 

 over the same ground again. Another reason why leaves should be allowed 

 to remain on strawberry plants, was stated by a writer in the Gardeners'' 

 Chronicle some time back — they preserve the incipient fruit-buds from frost 

 during the winter. It has been found that very severe winters are followed 

 by failures in strawberries, caused by the attacks of frost on the crowns ; 

 consequently the protection of the foliage may be a matter of importance. 

 A good dressing of rotten manure may be supplied, either laid on the sur- 

 face or slightly forked in. The roots of the plants must on no account be 

 interfered with. 



In making new beds, let the ground be trenched to the depth of 2 feet at 

 least, and well mixed with rotten dung. When the soil is settled, put your 

 plants in rows thi"ee feet apart, and half a yard distant from each other. Noth- 

 ing is gained, but much is lost, by close planting. There should be room 

 to walk between the rows, and it will be seen that 3 feet is scarcely suffi- 

 cient to allow of this. Each plant should be isolated, if the finest produce 

 is wanted. Light, air, and solar heat will thus be supplied in the largest 

 possible quantities, with the most beneficial results. The plants themselves 

 should have been trained in a nursery bed early in the season, and, if they 

 have been so treated, they will now be a good size. Remove them with 

 balls of earth, so as to disturb their growth as little as possible. But if you 

 have made no provision for new plantations, you must take up with a trow- 

 el, the strongest of your self-rooted plants from the old beds. Fix every 

 plant firmly, and your work is done ; unless you like to put a little short 

 litter to protect from frost. Thus treated, a bed of strawberries will bear a 

 little fruit next year, and a full crop the year after. Two full crops are as 

 much as should be expected from any strawberry plant, and after that the 

 beds sliould be destroyed. By making a fresh plantaiion every year, you 

 will always be well supplied, and not run the risk of being laughed at for 

 expecting fruit from plants which, in the common course of events, have 

 become barren. — {Gard. Chron., 1848, p. 620.) 



Reserve Beds for Window Plants. — To persons who are not in possession 

 of a greenhouse, it is a most important matter to be able to keep a stock of 

 healthy flowering plants, to decorate the window of a siiting-room. The 

 general lover of flowers will not be satisfied with having a well stocked 

 garden ; he must also have some pets to employ him in wet weather, and 

 during the months when, out of doors, plants are not in bloom. He will 

 also feel that flowers adorn his dwelling more than the choicest works of 

 art, and to secure them in succession, will be willing to incur some expense 



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