FARMER'S ASSISTANT. 



STRAWBERRY (Fragaria ) The Chili, the hautboy^ 

 the wood, and the scarlet strawberry^ are all esteemed ; but 

 the latter is mostly cultivated. A light loamy soil is best 

 for raising them; and it should not be dunged much, lest 

 they run too much, and of course be less fruitful. 



They are first to be sown from the seeds, in a bed, which 

 is to be kept clean of weeds. In this they are to be kept 

 three years, before transplanting. They are to be trans- 

 planted in September or the begining of October. The 

 ground into which they are to be transplanted is to be laid 

 out into beds, four feet wide, with alleys between them, of 

 the width ol two feet. The plants are to be set fifteen 

 inches apart, in rows each way. Mr. Miller says, 



* The plants should never be taken from old neglected 

 beds, where the plants have been suffered to run into a 

 multitude of suckers; that those should be avoided which 

 are not fruitful ; and those offsets which stand -nearest to 

 the old plants should be prefered to those which are pro- 

 duced from the trailing stalks at a greater distance. 5 



When they become unfruitful, which is generally at the 

 end of three years, they must be again transplanted. 



Mr Miller directs, that the vines be kept clear of weeds 

 during the Summer; that all the runers, or suckers, be 

 pulled off as fast as they appear; and they will produce 

 a plentiful crop the next Spring after planting. The old 

 plants produce the fruit; the suckers yield none until after 

 a full year's growth ; and they serve to rob the old plants 

 of that nourishment which is so essential to their fruit- 

 fulness. 



In Autumn, let the plants be again divested of their 

 .strings and runers, and the beds be again cleared of weeds, 

 Mr. Miller directs that some Taner's bark be then spread 

 over the ground, and this, when afterwards buried in the 

 soil, will serve as a dressing for the vines. He further di- 

 rects, that some moss be spread round under the vines, to >' 

 keep the fruit from the ground. Straw will answer as well| 

 for this purpose. 



An improved method of cultivating the Alpine strawberry, 

 is as follows : 



' Sow the seed on a moderate hotbed in the begining of 

 April, and, as soon as the plants have acquired sufficient 

 strength, transplant them in open beds. They will begin 

 to blossom after midsummer, and afford an abundant au- 

 tumnal crop.* 



Mr. Knight, who reports the foregoing method of treat- 

 ment, thinks, that this plant should always be cultivated as 

 an annual one. 



46 



