THE CULTIVATION OF THE STRAWBERRY. 



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have had it in my possession for three years, and have exhibited 

 plants with two hundred fruit upon them ; these plants were 

 three years old. It is a fruit of medium size, very dark-coloured, 

 well-flavoured, and a first-rate sort for preserving. I think it 

 will become a general favourite. 



By accident I discovered an excellent plan for producing a 

 late crop of strawberries. I turned out about 300 pot-plants in 

 full flower, during very hot leather in April? a severe frost 

 about the 1st of May destroyed all the bloom, and at the end of 

 June the plants showed abundance of blossom, and produced a 

 good crop. They were planted in the open ground. 



Soils make a wonderful difference in strawberries ; the very 

 best of all is a sandy loam. They will not grow in this more to 

 root and top than is necessary for the formation of good buds for 

 the next year, while in a rich, light mould, if the autumn prove 

 wet, they will produce a large, watery mass of tops, growing 

 on to the middle of October, and producing no buds in the 

 centre. 



I have practised the following plans on light soils. Where 

 the strawberries were planted out in poor sandy soil, I have 

 obtained a famous crop by giving plenty of liquid manure in 

 spring. A similar result followed when, before planting out 

 the runners, I have taken out a spit of mould, and put in its 

 place a spitful of loam, and then planted the runners in this. 

 I have also planted the runners in small pots filled with loam, 

 and about the 1st of November planted them out for the next 

 year's crop. I may state here that I never put more than one 

 plant in a pot eight inches deep, and in planting out these for 

 the next year's crop, they are put a foot apart in the row, the 

 rows being two feet asunder. Care should be taken not to save 

 any runners from plants that have not borne well ; all those that 

 do not should be pulled up at once. The strawberry is very 

 liable to deterioration from neglect of this point, the plants 

 becoming unfruitful from an excessive luxuriance of growth. 



Where persons do not force, it is a good plan to trench the 

 ground well, and plant the runners a foot apart each way. By 

 this means a good crop Mill be insured for the first year, and 

 after this has been gathered every second row should be cut 

 away with the spade, leaving the others for the second year ; 

 after this they should be dotroyed as soon as they have produced 

 enough of runners for a new plantation. For many years I have 

 mulched between the rows with fresh stable manure, about an 

 inch thick all over the ground, just as the strawberries were 

 coming into flower. If the weather be dry. water should be 

 given several times; this carries the strength of the manure 

 down among the roots, and by the time the fruit begins to ripen 



