162 Observations on th& 



cious gardener, be rendered suitable for it. We have seen very 

 splendid crops of fruit upon a very stiff yellow clay, mellowed 

 down by mixing with it anthracite coal ashes and manure. 



The best season for making new plantations of the strawberry 

 is either in spring, at a pretty early period, or directly after the 

 beds have ceased bearing, in August. If the latter time is cho- 

 sen, the plants generally get sufficiently well established to bear 

 a considerable crop the ensuing year. 



There are various modes in which to plant the beds when 

 formed. Some arrange the plants so as to be kept in hills, oth- 

 ers in rows, and others, again, allow them to cover the whole 

 surface of the bed. We consider the first method preferable, 

 as in that way the ground can be kept cultivated between the 

 plants; the fruit is generally larger and finer, being more exposed 

 to the genial influence of the sun, and the duration of the bed is 

 greater. Three or four rows may be planted in each bed, at a 

 suitable distance apart, and the runners from the rows should be 

 shortened or cut off about three times during the season. If the 

 plants are not thriving well, a light top dressing between the rows 

 in autumn will be of great advantage. Burning off the upper 

 surface of the bed in the spring has been highly recommended 

 by some persons, but we have never found it to answer our ex- 

 pectations upon trial. 



This fruit receives its name from the very ancient custom of 

 placing straw on the beds, between the rows of plants, to preserve 

 the berries clean. The custom is not yet too antiquated to be 

 of less value to those who desire the fruit in its greatest perfec- 

 tion. Clean wheat or rye cho.ff may be substituted for straw, 

 and it has the very great additional advantage of not only pre- 

 venting most weeds from growing, by excluding the light, but 

 also, by decomposing with considerable rapidity after the fruit 

 season is past, it contributes much to the enrichment of the sur- 

 face soil of the bed. Young and strong runners, well rooted, 

 should in all cases be chosen to form the new bed, and not old 

 plants, or those offsetts which grow near them. 



There is a fact with regard to the strawberry plant little known, 

 the ignorance of which puzzles many a good cultivator. This is 

 the existence of separate fertile and sterile or barren plants in 

 many of the varieties, otherwise plants which produce chiefly 

 male, and others that produce only female, flowers. Botanically, 

 the strawberry should produce both stamens and pistils in each 

 flower, and the blossoms should consequently all mature fruit. 

 This is really the case with the alpine, the wood strawberries, 

 &c., but not entirely so with the large scarlet and pine strawber- 

 ries. These latter sorts, it is well known, produce the largest 

 and finest fruit; but we very often see whole beds of them in 

 fine flourishing condition, almost entirely unproductive. The 



