740 PRACTICE OF GARDENING. PART III. 



planted, bears a fine fruit the following season, and will bear in full perfection the second summer. A 

 plantation of the alpine yields fruit the same year that it is made. The woods and the alpine come regu- 

 lar from seed, and bring a finer fruit than from offsets. The other species are uniformly propagated by 

 offsets, except the intention be to try for new varieties." Knight, in making experiments, with a view of 

 ascertaining whether most of the sorts would not breed together indiscriminately, raised above four hun- 

 dred varieties, " some very bad, but the greater part tolerably good, and a few very excellent." The 

 fruit of above a dozen sorts was sent to the Horticultural Society in August, 1818, and found of various 

 degrees of excellence. The seeds, if sown immediately after being gathered, will produce plants which 

 will come into bearing the following year. 



4716. Soil and site. Neill says, " Strawberries are generally placed in a compartment of the garden by 

 themselves, and it should be one which is freely exposed to sun and air. They are sometimes, however, 

 planted in single rows, as edgings to borders, and in this way they often produce great crops. In either 

 case care must be taken to replant them every fourth or fifth year at the farthest. The alpine and wood 

 species may be placed in situations rather cool and shady ; perhaps as an edging in the shrubbery. In 

 such places they produce their fruit perfectly well, and late in the season, which is desirable." 



4717. General culture. The following original and excellent instructions for culti- 

 vating the strawberry, are given by Keen, of Isleworth ; a most successful grower of 

 this fruit. * He says, " I will commence with a general detail of my practice : this may 

 be considered as applicable to all the varieties of the strawberry ; and afterwards, in no- 

 ticing each kind that I cultivate, I will specify such peculiarities of treatment as are 

 exclusively applicable to each.'' 



4718. In preparing the soil for strawberries, " if it be new, and, as is frequently the case, very stiff, it 

 should be trenched ; but if the bottom spit of soil, as sometimes happens, be of an inferior quality, I then 

 recommended only a simple digging, placing dung at the bottom, underneath the mould so dug ; on the 

 contrary, should the land have been kept in a high state of cultivation, or be good to the full depth, it will 

 be advisable for the bottom spit to be brought up to the top, placing the dung between the two spits. The 

 best way to obtain new plants is, by planting out runners in a nursery, for the express purpose, in the 

 previous season : for it is a very bad plan to supply a new plantation from old plants. With respect to the 

 time of planting, I have always found the month of March better than any other. Sometimes, when my 

 crops have failed, I have had runners planted in the autumn, for the following year, but these have always 

 disappointed my expectations. I plant them in beds, containing three or four rows, and the plants, in 

 each row, at a certain distance from each other, leaving an alley between each bed, the distance of the 

 rows and of the plants in the rows, as well as the width of the alleys, depending on the kind of strawberry 

 planted. The width of the alleys, as it will afterwards be stated, may appear considerable ; but, I am satis- 

 fied, that allowing this space for the workmen to stand on, when they water the plants, or gather the 

 fruit, is beneficial, because I have observed in other persons' grounds, where less space is allotted for this 

 purpose, that great damage is done to the plants and fruit by the trampling of the people." 



4719. General culture. " After the beds are planted, I always keep them as clear of weeds as possible, 

 and on no account allow any crop to be planted between the rows. Upon the growing of the runners, I 

 have them cut when necessary : this is usually three times in each season. In the autumn, I always have 

 the rows dug between ; for I find it refreshes the plants materially ; and I recommend to those persons to 

 whom it may be convenient, to scatter in the spring, very lightly, some loose straw or long dung, between 

 the rows. It serves to keep the ground moist, enriches the strawberry, and forms a clean bed for the 

 trusses of fruit to lie upon ; and thus, by a little extra trouble and cost, a more abundant crop may be ob- 

 tained. A short time before the fruit ripens, I always cut off the runners, to strengthen the root ; and 

 after the fruit is gathered, I have what fresh runners have been made taken off with a reaping-hook, to- 

 gether with the outside leaves around the main plant, after which I rake the beds, then hoe them, and 

 rake them again. In the autumn, unless the plants appear very strong, I have some dung dug in between 

 the rows, but if they are very luxuriant the dung is not required ; for in some rich soils it would cause 

 the plants to turn nearly all to leaf. I also have to remark, that the dung used for manure should not be 

 too far spent ; fresh dung from the stable-door is preferable to spit-dung, which many persons are so fond 

 of. The duration of the bed must be determined by the produce of the plants, which varies much ac- 

 cording to the different sorts ; it also varies with the same sort in different soils, so that the precise time 

 of the renewal of the beds must be regulated by the observation of the gardener, in each particular 

 case." 



4720. Sorts grown by Keen. The pine Keen grows in a light loam, "though no other 

 kind of strawberry will bear a strong loam better than this. It is likewise to be noticed, 

 that this is of all others the most difficult strawberry from which to procure a good crop. 

 Particular care must be taken that they are planted in open ground : for in small gardens 

 they grow very strong, but seldom bear fruit, in consequence of being so much shaded 

 by standard trees ; and I have observed the shade of the walnut-tree to be much more in- 

 jurious to these than to others : for under it they seldom bear at all, but run entirely to 

 leaf. In planting the beds of pines, I keep the rows two feet apart, and put the plants 

 eighteen inches from each other in the row, leaving alleys of three feet wide between 

 each bed : these large distances I find necessary, for the trusses of fruit in my garden - 

 ground are frequently a foot long. The duration of this strawberry, with me, is three 

 years : the first year it bears the best, the second year the crop is very good, and the 

 third year it is less." 



4721. The imperial strawberry, " which was raised by myself from seed, may be treated in a similar 

 way, with respect to planting, distance, &c. as the pine ; but I have to remark, that it requires rather a 

 lighter and richer soil, and is not so liable to run to leaf, when planted under trees." 



4722. The scarlet strawberry must be treated also like the pine. " With respect to distance for planting the 

 beds of scarlets, I put each row twenty-one inches apart, and each plant eighteen inches distant in the 

 row, and make the alleys two feet six inches wide. The duration of this strawberry, with me, seldom 

 exceeds three years." 



4723. The hautboy " I have always found to thrive best in a light soil : and it must be well supplied with 

 dung, for excess of manure does not drive it into leaf like the pine-strawberry. In planting the beds, each 

 row must be two feet apart, and from plant to plant, in the rows, must be eighteen inches, leaving the 

 alleys between the beds three feet wide. There are many different sorts of hautboys : one has the male 

 and female organs'-in the same blossom, and bears very freely ; but that which I most approve, is the one 

 which contains the male organs in one blossom, and the female in another : this bears fruit of the finest 

 color, and of far superior flavor. In selecting these plants, care must be taken that there are not too 

 many of the male plants among them ; for as these bear no fruit, they are apt to make more runners 

 than the females. I consider one male to ten females the proper proportion for an abundant crop. I 



