STRAWBERRIES. 183 



inches for a walk. I would not allow this bed to 

 be matted with an indefinite number of little plants 

 crowding each other into feeble life, but would 

 leave only those runners which had taken root 

 early, and destroy the rest. A plant which forms 

 in June and the first weeks in July has time to 

 mature good-sized fruit-buds before winter, espe- 

 cially jf given space in which to develop. This, 

 however, would be impossible if the runners were 

 allowed to sod the ground thickly. In principle I 

 would carry out the first system, and give each 

 plant space in which to grow upon its own root as 

 large as :t naturally would in a light soil, and I 

 -.vould have a sufficient number of plants to supply 

 the deficiency in growth. On good, loamy soil, 

 the foliage of single lines of plants, three feet apart, 

 will grow so large as to touch across the spaces ; 

 but this could scarcely be expected on light soil 

 unless irrigation were combined with great fertility. 

 Nevertheless, a bed with plants standing not too 

 thickly upcn it will give an abundance of superb 

 fruit. 



Strawberries grown in beds may not require so 

 much sprirg mulching to keep the fruit clean, but 

 should carefully receive all that is needed. Winter 

 protectionalso is not so indispensable as on heavier 

 soils, but it always well repays. A thick bed of 

 plants should never be protected by any kind of 



