STOCKS. 



488 



STRAWBERRY. 



The Intermediate Stock is extensively 

 cultivated for Covent-garden market ; it is 

 dwarf and branching, and in the early sum- 

 mer months constitutes the principal feature 

 in furnishing jardinets, &c., for " the Lon- 

 don season." It is also of great value in 

 filling flower-beds for an early summer dis- 

 play. Half-hardy biennials. 



Stocks, To Select Double 

 Flowering. 



Reject from the seed-bed all those plants 

 which have a long tap-root (these will 

 almost invariably prove single), and reserve 

 for bedding only those which have the 

 largest quantity of delicate fibres at the 

 roots : experience shows that these, in 

 general, prove double. 



Stole or Stolon. 



In some plants Nature has resorted to 

 propagation by means of a loose trailing 

 branch or stem, called a stole or stolon, 

 from the Latin stolo, a twig or shoot spring- 

 ing from the stock of a tree, which is sent 

 forth from the plant at the summit of the 

 root, just where the leaves spring from the 

 stem. This branch or stem proceeds from 

 the original plant to some distance, and 

 then takes root downwards and sends forth 

 leaves upwards, frequently continuing its 

 growth beyond the first attachment to the 

 soil, and rooting at intervals, forming a 

 new plant at each rooting. Plants that 

 propagate themselves in this manner are 

 called stoloniferous. The strawberry 

 affords a familiar example which is known 

 f o every one, and another is found in the 

 Trailing Saxifrage, Saxifraga sarmentosa> 

 sometimes called " Mother of Thousands," 

 C He of the prettiest basket plants that can 

 'be found, with its green foliage, nearly 

 round in shape and flecked with white, 'its 

 pyramidal spikes of white flowers, and its 

 deep red stoles, which hang on all sides 

 over the basket, from 18 inches to 24 



inches in length, breaking out at intervals 

 into miniature reproductions of the mother 

 plant. 



Stonecrop. See Sedum. 



Straggling Plants. 



To preserve a neat appearance in the 

 flower borders, all perennials that have a 

 tendency to run about or stray and there 

 are many of which this is the habit, as, for 

 example, Calystegia pubescens should have 

 their roots confined under the surface with 

 tiles. Old chimney and seakale pots are 

 very good for the purpose. By this means 

 they may be kept within due bounds, but, 

 of necessity, will require every few years 

 to be transplanted into fresh soil. 



Strawberry (Fragaria). 



The strawberry requires a deep, porous 

 and highly enriched and well-drained soil. 

 The best natural soil would be what is 

 called a hazel loam retentive, but not too 

 adhesive and trenched at least 3 feet 

 deep, and the bottom of each spit enriched 

 with 3 or 4 inches of well -rotted stable 

 manure. This being trenched in in the 

 winter or spring, the land should be kept 

 moved and stirred about as much as possible 

 until the plants are ready for planting. 



The proper time to make new strawberry 

 beds is the month of August ; but if space 

 of ground cannot then be had, or the time 

 spared, it is an excellent plan to take the 

 runners at that time and set them only a 

 few inches apart in peat soil, on a north 

 border, where they will soon make good 

 root and become strong plants. In the 

 early spring they should be taken up 

 separate, with a ball of earth, by means of 

 a trowel, and planted a proper distance 

 from each other in the bed intended for 

 them. 



In the market gardens this planting 

 takes place in June, the market gardeners 



