202 



FRUITS. 



[chap. 



remove strawberries from one place to another is the easiest 

 thing in the world : you have nothing to do but to give a chop 

 with a spade round the clump ; take it up and put it in the place 

 where you wish to have it. This may be done at any time be- 

 tween October and ^lay without the smallest chance of injuring 

 the crop : to all its other excellent qualities, the strawberry adds 

 hardiness of the plant, in a swamp on a bank, amidst rocks, and 

 upon the tops of walls, I have seen strawberries growing and bear- 

 ing ; but stifling they will not endure ; and, therefore, if you want 

 the industry and care to plant them at suitable distances and to 

 keep them clear of grass and weeds, never expect a crop of straw- 

 berries. Before I come to speak of the different sorts, let me 

 notice three things ; preserving strawberries from the birds and 

 slugs ; keeping them from being covered with dirt by the heav'y 

 rains ,* and giving them water if the ground be at all dry. As to 

 the first of these, the wood-pigeons, the common pigeons, the 

 doves, the blackbirds, the jack-daws, the thrushes, and even some 

 of the small birds, invade the strawberry clumps, and, if unresisted, 

 destroy a great part of the fruit. In this case, which happens 

 when there are woods and shrubberies at hand, nothing is a pro- 

 tection but a net, held up by hoops or little forked sticks. The 

 slug is a still more bitter enemy ; and, in some seasons, where 

 strawberries are suffered to run together in beds, more than half 

 the fruit is consumed or spoiled by the nasty and mischievous 

 reptiles. The remedy is to examine the clumps well just as the 

 strawberries are beginning to be ripe. See that there are no slugs 

 about the stems of the leaves, and then make a little circle of hot 

 lime, at half a foot or so at the extremity of the leaves of the 

 clumps. No slug will enter that magic circle; but, if rain come, 

 or even heavy dews, the lime becomes slack and powerless, and a 

 little more must be put upon the circle, the least dust in the 

 world being enough. The other precaution ; namely, to keep the 

 fruit from being beaten by the rain down amongst the dirt, short 

 grass-mowings, or moss, the latter being the best of the two, 

 should be laid round the stems of the plants, just as the fruit be- 

 gins to ripen. This will completely guard against the evil : come 

 what rain will, the fruit will always be clean. The last thing that 

 I have to mention is the watering ; and a real good watering 

 with rain-water, or pond-water, should be given just when the 

 blossoms are falling and the fruit begins to set. Blacking the 



