THE SMALL FRUITS. ] 615 



raise new varieties, but the Maltese or wood strawberry, 

 and most Alpine strawberries very generally come true 

 from seed, and are far from being so liable to variation 

 as the English strawberries The seed may be sown at 

 any time from March to September; in a pan or shallow 

 pot with good soil, well mixed with old manure and leaf- 

 mould. The pans are placed in a shaded situation and 

 the soil sprayed frequently. The seedlings soon make 

 good growth and may be planted out separately in the 

 following winter. They generally fruit in the following 

 spring, and undesirable sorts may then be pulled up and 

 thrown away. 



The best and readiest way to propagate the straw- 

 berry is by means of the plants which are produced at 

 the nodes of the suckers and at their extremity. These 

 plants will be found well rooted wherever they touch the 

 ground, and are generally produced in great profusion as 

 soon as the fruiting season is ended. However there are 

 certain sorts which produce runners very sparingly and 

 their propagation is necessarily tedious' In their case 

 the cultivator must make use of even weakly plants 

 which would be otherwise thrown away, and he has to 

 continue to cultivate the plants very carefully long after 

 they have ceased to fruit, so as to induce them to pro- 

 duce as many runners as possible Such sorts are in the 

 habit of forming suckers around the neck of the mother- 

 plant, and these being usually well rooted, are separated 

 and planted out. Certain sorts of Alpine strawberries 

 which produce no runners, are propagated exclusively in 

 this way. 



'1 he beds of strawberries are given a good mulching 

 of well-rottecl manure early in March, the manure is 

 digged in lightly and the beds are watered. When 

 vegetation is in full action and the plants are in bloom, 

 it may become necessary to cover the beds, in the spaces 

 between the plants, with chopped straw, in order to 



