242 THE FRUIT GAIlDES-a [mAT. 



way than in beds), should now have the runners cut 

 from them, and be completely cleared from weeds. 

 By carefully divesting the plants of runners, the 

 fruit will be considerably increased in size. If the 

 plants have been planted in lines about two feet a- 

 sunder, and eighteen inches in line, every stool 

 should be rendered quite distinct from another, and 

 the earth between them should be stirred up with 

 the hoe. This is the practice of the best strawberry 

 farmers about Edinburgh ; who drive a good trade 

 by the culture of this fruit, and are perhaps, the 

 most extensive growers of it to be found in any part 

 of our island ; as high and low, rich and poor in 

 Edinburgh, feast on strawberries in their season. 



If the weather be very dry, strawberries in flower 

 should be occasionally, and those having set their 

 fruit, frequently refreshed with water. The garden 

 engine should be employed in this business, if the 

 plantations be anywise extensive, as using the wa- 

 tering-pot would, in that case, be too tedious a me- 

 thod. Some of the strawberry growers above men- 

 tioned, go over extensive fields with the water-cart, 

 and water them when the fruit are swelling off; 

 desisting, however, as they begin to colour, that the 

 favour may not be deteriorated. 



