476 THE STRAWBERRY. 



cultivation in hills of about two feet apart, one plant to a hill, the 

 runners regularly destroyed, is most successfnl with the Wood and 

 Alpine varieties, and is the only successful mode of growing any of 

 the English varieties ; it also returns the largest and most perfect 

 berries with nearly all the Scarlets and Pines ; but at the price of 

 labor in this country, it is regarded as too expensive to compare 

 favorably with the following modes in rows or strips, which have 

 been successfully and largely practiced in this country, and are thus 

 described by A. J. Downing : 



" Culture in Rows. The rows should be two feet apart, and the 

 plants of the large growing kinds two feet from each other in the 

 rows ; of the smaller growing kinds, from one foot to eighteen inches 

 is sufficient. The runners must be kept down by cutting them off 

 at least three times a year, and the ground maintained in good order 

 by constant dressing. During the first year, a row of any small 

 vegetables may be sown in the spaces between the rows. Every 

 Autumn, if the plants are not luxuriant, a light coat of manure should 

 be dug in between the rows ; but if they are very thrifty, it must be 

 *imitted, as it would cause them to run too much to leaf. 



" A light top-dressing of leaves, or any good compost, applied late 

 in the Fall, greatly promotes the vigor of the plants, and secures the 

 more tender kinds against the effects of an unusually cold Winter. 

 Before the fruit ripens, the ground between the rows should be 

 covered with straw or new-mown grass to keep it clean. A planta- 

 tion in rows is generally in full perfection the third year, and must 

 always be renewed after the fourth year." 



Culture in Alternate Strips. " Strike out the rows three feet 

 apart with a line. Plant along each line, about a foot apart in the 

 row. The plants will- soon send out runners, and these runners 

 should be allowed to take possession of every alternate strip of three 

 feet, the other strip being kept bare by continually destroying all 

 runners upon it, the whole patch being kept free of all weeds. The 

 occupied strip, or bed of runners, will now give a heavy crop of 

 strawberries, and the open strip of three will serve as an alley from 

 which to gather fruit. After the crop is over, dig and prepare this 

 alley or strip for the occupancy of the new runners for the next 

 season's crop. The runners from the old strip will now speedily 

 cover the new space alloted to them, and will perhaps require a par- 

 tial thinning out to have them evenly distributed. As soon as this 

 is the case — say about the middle of A,ugust — dig under the whole 

 of the old plants with a light coat of manure. The surface may be 

 then sown with turnips or spinach, which will come ofi' before the 

 next season of fruits. 



" In this way, the strips or beds occupied by the plants are re- 

 versed every season, and the same plot of ground may thus be con- 

 tinued in a productive state for many years." 



