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XCIX. On the Cultivation of Strawberries, in the open 

 Ground. In a Letter to the Secretary. By Mr. Michael 

 Keens, Gardener, at Isleworth. 



Read August 5, 1817. 



Sir, 



In answer to your letter, relative to the culture of Straw- 

 berries, I beg leave to remark, that I wish you had applied, 

 for the information you require, to some person more com- 

 petent than myself : for the knowledge I possess on the 

 subject, has been solely acquired from my own practice, 

 and experience, never having received instructions from 

 persons, or books. I am, however, most willing to commu- 

 nicate, as well as I am able, any information to so useful an 

 institution as the Horticultural Society. 



I will commence with a general detail of my practice : this 

 may be considered as applicable to all the varieties of the 

 Strawberry; and afterwards, in noticing each kind, that I 

 cultivate, I will specify such peculiarities of treatment as are 

 exclusively applicable to each. 



In preparing the soil for Strawberries, if it be new, and, 

 as is frequently the case, very stiff, it should be trenched ; 

 but if the bottom spit of soil, as sometimes happens, be of 

 an inferior quality, I then recommend only a simple digging, 

 placing dung at the bottom, underneath the mould so dug ; 

 on the contrary, should the land have been kept in a high 

 state of cultivation, or be good to the full depth, it will be 

 advisable for the bottom spit to be brought up to the top, 



