THE STRAWBERRY. 247 



handled ; and when fine fruit are produced after months 

 of careful culture, careful packing must be regarded as 

 the gardener's finishing-touch. The boxes in which 

 they are packed should be made of thin deal or tin, in 

 which case two or three storeys or layers of them may 

 be packed into a stronger box. 



PKEPAKING FKUIT FOE EXHIBITION. 



In preparing fruit for exhibition, a great amount of 

 careful and skilful generalship is required. Generally 

 speaking, the grower who has a large number of plants 

 to gather from on an exhibition eve, has a very great 

 advantage over the grower with only a few scores of 

 pots, more so than in the case of any other fruit. For 

 with the most careful thinning, it is weU known to 

 every strawberry-forcer that each plant has generally 

 one or two very large fruits, while the remainder are 

 considerably less. Consequently, the more numerous 

 the plants ripening fruit at one time, the more numer- 

 ous will be the monster strawberries. But size is not 

 all on the exhibition-table ; colour and flavour are also 

 very important points, which can only be attained by 

 free exposure to light and dry warm air. If straw- 

 berries are grown with the intention of their being 

 prize-takers, a smaller number of fruit should be allowed 

 to each plant. Some may require being retarded in 

 cooler houses so as to keep back the first and largest 

 berries; others may require a contrary treatment to 

 bring them forward to match the retarded ones. 



Most growers have their own way of setting up or 

 dishing for exhibition. The most effective dish of 

 strawberries I ever remember of were laid singly in a 



