STEAWBEEBY 



HABDY FRUIT GABDEN steawbebey 1089 



a pulpy or juicy fruit enclosed in which 

 are several seeds, as in the Gooseherr;^ and 

 Currant, but not the Raspberry, Black- 

 berry, or Mulberry. For ordinary pur- 

 poses, however, it is generally found very 

 convenient to refer loosely to the Straw- 

 berry both as a ' fruit ' and a ' berry.' 



Soil. — A rich moist and fairly heavy 

 loam, such as would suit Roses, is the 

 best all-round soil for Strawberries. Any- 

 thing approaching a light gravelly shallow 

 soil is useless, but where such exists it 

 may be improved by the addition of 

 clayey soil, and plenty of cow or stable 

 manure. The soil must be well prepared 

 by good digging or even trenching, at the 

 same time incorporating with it a quan- 

 tity of well-rotted manure, old leaf soil 

 &c. at the bottom of the furrows in good 

 soil, or rather fresh manure in poor soil. 

 Where the land is always in good culti- 

 vation the necessity for heavy manuring 

 is not so great. While the soil should be 

 fau-ly moist and inclining rather to the 

 heavy side, it is also essential that water 

 should pass away freely and not lie in 

 stagnant pools beneath or on the sm-face. 

 The addition of a little river sand to a 

 too heavy soil will improve its drainage a 

 good deal. The subsoil should also be 

 well broken up when digging or trenching. 

 These operations may be performed in 

 the summer time, June or July, say after 

 a crop of early Potatoes or green stuff has 

 been cleared away, and the soil will then 

 be in a good condition for planting later 

 on. 



Time of Planting. — It is a mistake to 

 plant Strawberries too late in the season, 

 as neither the roots nor plants can become 

 sufficiently well established before the 

 cold, wet, and frosty weather ; hence they 

 suffer a good deal, even if they are not 

 altogether killed. From the middle of 

 August to the end of September is about 

 the best period for planting Strawberries 

 especially in dull showery weather. The 

 young plants or ' runners ' should be well 

 rooted, and may be placed about 18 in. 

 apart from each other, while a distance of 

 2 ft. between the rows will not be too 

 much. It will admit of more easy mulch- 

 ing later on, and also allows greater free- 

 domin picking the fruit. Sometimes a crop 

 of green stuff can be taken off the land in 

 between the rows before the Strawberries 

 require mulching and picking. 



Care must be taken not to plant too 

 deeply. The fibrous roots require to be 



spread out carefully, but the crown or 

 centre of the plant must not be in any 

 way covered with the soil. After plant- 

 ing the soil should be firmly trodden 

 round each plant. Neglect of this pre- 

 caution often results in failure or bad 

 crops. 



Propagation. — The commonest way 

 of multiplying Strawberry plants is by 

 means of the creeping cord-like shoots 

 known as ' runners ' that root at the tip 

 and produce young plants therefrom. 

 Indeed, with choice and highly flavoured 

 varieties this is not only the easiest but 

 the best way, as the variety is then kept 

 true. These runners are usually produced 

 freely in summer. When full grown they 

 may be pegged down or ' layered ' to the 

 ground at the tips where they lie, or into 

 small pots about 3 in. wide at the top. 

 The latter is on the whole the better 

 method, as the young plants when well 

 rooted are more easily detached from the 

 parent plant and removed to the soil in 

 which they are to be planted. Roots 

 also suffer little injxiry when transferred 

 from pots to the ground, whereas the 

 runners layered in the soil are more 

 or less injured at the roots when lifted. 

 More attention, however, must be given 

 to the plants in pots in regard to water- 

 ing, until the time for planting them out 

 has arrived. It is an excellent plan to 

 place the rooted runners in pots (when 

 detached from the parent plants) under 

 the shade of a north wall for a week or 

 two, so as to enable them to become 

 thoroughly established before planting 

 out as mentioned above. 



Where there are frames in a garden, 

 a good way to obtain a crop of Straw- 

 berries to foUow those forced in green- 

 houses, and to fruit before those in the 

 open air, is to take the runners a little 

 earlier than usual, and plant out as 

 advised above when well rooted. They 

 may be left in the open border during 

 the autumn and winter months, but in 

 March they may be carefully lifted with 

 a good ball of soil and planted in the cold 

 frames. The plants should be kept close 

 for a week or so, but cold draughts 

 should always be avoided. 



Besides runners. Strawberries may 

 also be increased by division of the 

 ■ stools ' or rootstooks, but this method 

 although easy is not to be recommended, 

 as plants thus produced never attain the 

 vigour and fruitfulness of runners. New 



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