322 The Profitable Culture of Vegetables. 



When the production of extra fine fruit is the principal aim 

 of the grower the plants should only be permitted to produce 

 fruit once, digging them in immediately afterwards. The first 

 crop, although not so abundant as the second, always yields 

 the finest fruits, and annual plantations, as described later in 

 the paragraph " Strawberries in Beds," will be found the best 

 method to adopt in gardens where the soil is worked intensively, 

 as not only are the individual fruits much finer, but from a 

 given space the total crop is very much heavier than can be 

 obtained by ordinary methods. 



Few growers, especially those who produce the fruit on an 

 extensive scale, realise the importance of irrigation when the 

 fruit is swelling, particularly when the weather is dry ; under 

 such circumstances, when possible, copious supplies of water 

 should be given, and will be found to greatly increase both the 

 size of the fruit and the total weight of the crop. Where 

 the plantation is inconveniently situated for giving water, a 

 good mulch of long straw manure, along the sides, between, 

 and partially over the plants, put on not later than the middle 

 of March, will both feed the crop and keep the fruit clean. 

 The foliage grows through fresh and strong, and by the time 

 the fruit appears the straw is washed clean by the rains. 



Plants. The success of the plantation, both immediately and 

 permanently, depends upon the quality of the plants used, and 

 the importance of this fact cannot be too strongly impressed 

 upon the inexperienced beginner in Strawberry culture. Where 

 a plantation is being formed for the first time, the plants should 

 be obtained from a firm of good standing and repute, who 

 make the propagation of Strawberry plants a leading line in 

 their business. The first cost of the plants will probably be a 

 little more than would be the case if they were ordered hap- 

 hazard from advertisers who offer them very cheaply, but it 

 will be money well spent, and really far cheaper in the end, 

 to make a start with good plants instead of with miserable, 

 stunted specimens, gathered anyhow from fields which jiave 

 been allowed to run wild ; the misguided and unfortunate pur- 

 chaser of such plants often receives them in the form of bags 

 of sweating rubbish not worth the cost of railway carriage. 

 The only plants fit for the intended purpose are those showing 



