50 GARDENING 



then lifted with balls of roots and put in their 

 permanent border in October. 



All that is necessary beyond this is to keep the 

 beds free from weeds, and to shake in between the 

 rows in the winter a dressing of short manure, which 

 can be lightly forked in before the spring, all old 

 runners and stems having been previously cleared 

 off. 



During the time the fruit is swelling it will be 

 beneficial, if the weather is warm and dry, to give 

 two or three soakings of liquid manure, especially 

 if the beds are two years or more old. And it is a 

 good plan to vary the manure watering, giving at 

 one application diluted stable or sheep droppings ; 

 soot water the next, and then, perhaps, a little 

 nitrate of soda. 



Plants on a sunny morning should be fertilised 

 with the brush. 



It is necessary to lay some suitable material 

 between the plants to prevent them being splashed 

 by rain. Sometimes littery manure is used, but 

 it is now generally found that spent tan is best : it 

 is easily laid down and removed, and keeps the 

 slugs away as well as other insect pests. After the 

 tan is removed, if put by in a heap it makes a good 

 fertiliser for any kind of crop. 



All runners should be removed till the fruit is 

 gathered ; but in spite of removing them there will 

 be, in July and August, a profusion of runners 

 produced, the foliage of which will, as the 

 ' Gardener's Chronicle ' says, obstruct the light 

 from the older and principal leaves which are pre- 

 paring for the formation of the next year's blossoms. 

 These waste runners should be cut away as soon as 

 possible, as they exhaust the soil by their roots. 



