STRAWBERRY. 331 



It is no uncommon thing, in many parts of the country, 

 to see strawberry-beds that have not been renewed for 

 ten or twenty years ; these, of course, will not produce so 

 much fruit in ten years, as may be obtained in one year 

 by attention. Strawberries in general prosper in hazelly 

 loam ; if the soil is too rich, the plants run more to leaves 

 and suckers than to fruit ; it should, also not be too dry, 

 for watering will not answer so well as a moist mould ; 

 but the different kinds of strawberries require different 

 soils. For instance, the Chili strawberry is found to suc- 

 ceed best in a strong brick earth approaching to clay. The 

 situation of the beds should be well exposed to the sun 

 and air, without which, fine-flavoured fruit cannot be 

 expected ; the crops are too frequently destroyed by an 

 improper mode and time of watering, as many persons, 

 without considering how necessary it is that the blossoms 

 should receive impregnation, wash all the prolific powder 

 from the flowers, and thus, disabling nature to fulfil its 

 office, deprive themselves of a crop of fruit. When the 

 fruit is set, watering may greatly assist the size of the 

 berry. Should excessive droughts prevail when these 

 plants are in flower, the ground should be watered with- 

 out sprinkling the plants, and which will well repay the 

 extra time and care required. 



The Rev. Thomas Gardiner having succeeded in grow- 

 ing abundant crops of fine strawberries, we shall notice 

 the information he gives on the subject, as laid before us 

 in the Transactions of the Horticultural Society. " The 

 soil consists of a dark sandy loam, of about two feet in 

 depth, having a very fine white sand for the sub-soil, 

 which I take care never to disturb. In preparing the 

 ground for my crops, I trench it all over two spades deep, 

 and then lay upon the surface a dressing, about two 

 inches thick, of rich yellow loam, rotten dung, and bog- 

 earth, mixed together in equal proportions, and which is 



