156 FRUIT GARDEN. 
piest success. Early in spring hé sowed the seed in flower- 
pots, which were put into a hotbed; and as soon as the 
plants attained a sufficient size, they were transplanted 
into the open ground. They began to blossom soon after 
midsummer, and continued to produce fruit till interrupted 
by frost. Thus Mr. Knight is inclined to treat the alpine 
strawberry as an annual plant. The same practice has 
been recommended in France by M. Morel de Vindé (Cal. 
Hort. Mem., vol. iii.); but he very properly preserves his 
plants for three years, sowing every year. a successional 
crop. Mr. Keen has applied this method of culture to the 
wood strawberry; and we doubt not but it might be ex- 
tended with beneficial effects to the Old Scarlet and others 
of the less artificial varieties. 
A clayey soil or strong loam is considered as best suited 
to strawberry plants. On a sandy or very light soil they 
seldom succeed in England ; and in very close situations, 
and over-rich ground, most varieties produce little else 
than leaves. Before planting, the ground should be 
trenched, or digged over deeply, and when stiff and com- 
pact it should be very carefully worked. Keen, and 
others in the neighborhood of London, grow their straw- 
berries in beds, three rows in each, with an alley between 
them. The market-gardeners of Edinburgh, who, in the 
culture of this fruit, are perhaps not excelled by any, 
plant in rows two feet asunder, and from a foot to fifteen 
inches in the rows. When the weather is dry, the young 
plants are watered till they be well established. As little 
fruit is produced the first year, a line of carrots, onions, or 
other vegetables, is often sown between the rows for one 
season. In May the runners are cut off, with the view of 
promoting the swelling of the fruit. During dry weather, 
careful cultivators water their plants while in flower, and 
