STRAWBERRIES. 29 



some time before the fruit ripens. This is often 

 deferred till it is colouring, and the trusses have to 

 be raised and the stalks bruised by placing it under 

 them a most reprehensible practice. Better by far 

 is it to apply the covering when the plants are 

 flowering, if not before, as it can then be completed 

 much more expeditiously, and without injury to 

 the crop. Where convenience exists for passing 

 the straw through a " cut box", such as is used to 

 prepare food for horses or cattle, severing it into 

 inch or two-inch lengths, it can be very quickly 

 spread on the ground amongst the plants for keep- 

 ing the fruit clean, while the movement of slugs is 

 baffled, as they cannot travel over the unstable 

 particles. 



The ground for Strawberries should be well 

 worked, and enriched to the depth of eighteen 

 inches or more ; then, if light, made firm ; but if it 

 is in a condition to grow cauliflowers, onions, and 

 lettuces well, it will suffice for a good yield of ex- 

 cellent fruit. Much inferior subsoil should never 

 be brought to the surface when digging or trench- 

 ing for either this or any other crop. 



Varieties. The most generally useful and ex- 

 ten<ively grown is Sir Joseph Paxton. President 

 equals it in some, and especially light, soils; Gari- 

 luildi (Vicomtesse Hericart de Thury) is hardy 



