12 STRAWBERRIES 
It has also been my fortune to have to deal with light, 
and what are known as ‘‘ hot” soils, and with such the 
preparation necessary to success differs somewhat from 
that already noted. Where these soils exist the grower 
should arrange so that the plot for strawberries can be 
trenched early in autumn, using rich farmyard manure, 
if it can be obtained—at any rate, using rich retentive 
material—in the process, as already described for heavy 
soils. In no case should trenching be deferred until 
the New Year, or the ground will not become sufh- 
ciently firm or fertile for the production of good 
strawberries. 
PROPAGATION 
Not only are strawberries fertile in a fruit-bearing 
sense, but they are prolific propagators. Left to their 
own resources they push out runners, along which, at 
intervals, are joints or nodes, from which young plants 
quickly form. What the botanists would call ‘‘con- 
tinuity of species” is well illustrated by strawberries, 
for the runners are pushed as far as possible out from 
the parent crown, so that even the plantlet nearest home 
has unoccupied soil in which to establish itself, while 
the later-formed ones are placed still further afield, and 
not one comes into direct competition with any other on 
the same runner. 
Propagation by runners is the general method of 
increasing stock, and certainly it is the best one, being 
both natural and profitable. Simple as the operation is 
there are quite a variety of ways in which to conduct it, 
but there are, however, a few points to be observed in 
each and every case. ‘The earliest plant formed by the 
runner, that is, the one nearest the parent, should be 
secured, and none be allowed to form beyond it: this 
enables the grower to obtain strong, early plants, that 
