154 GARDENING FOE PLEASURE. 



Strawberries may be planted either in the fall or spring. 

 If the plants are to be set in the fall, it should not be 

 done if possible in this latitude before the middle of Sep- 

 tember. This, of course, refers to the plants from run- 

 ners taken up from the bed in the usual manner, and 

 there is nothing gained in time over planting the next 

 spring, as the plant must grow for one season before it 

 can bear a full crop of fruit. In private gardens it is 



Fig. 64 STRIKING STKAWBEBBIES IN POTS. 



much better to have the plants layered in pots, as they 

 may then be set at almost any time. These pots may be 

 from two to three inches in diameter ; when a lot of 

 strawberry plants are wanted for a new bed, all that is 

 necessary to do is to fill these small pots with soil, and 

 " plunge " or plant the pot just to the surface level, plac- 

 ing the unrooted "runner" of the strawberry plant on 

 the top of the soil in the flower-pot, and laying a small 

 stone or clod on it to keep it in place. This method of 

 striking in pots is shown in fig. 64. The runners so 



