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XVII. On the Construction of Strawberry Beds. In a 

 Letter to the Secretary. By William Atkinson, Esq. 

 F. H. S. 



Read September 3, 1822. 



Dear Sir, 



Some years ago I happened to see in a small garden near 

 Chatham, a method of making Strawberry beds, which I 

 thought a good one ; and as I have never seen it in any other 

 situation, I here send you a description of it. 



The beds were upon flat ground, each about three feet 

 wide, and between them were trenches about nine inches 

 wide, and four- inch walls of brick on each side of the trenches, 

 to keep up the earth on the sides of the beds. These 

 trenches were about the depth of two or three courses of 

 bricks laid flat, without mortar, and were intended for the 

 purpose of holding water, which was supplied from a pump 

 whenever the ground was dry, while the plants were in fruit. 

 By this method, I understood, a much greater crop of fruit 

 was obtained, and the plants continued bearing much longer, 

 than in beds where there were no trenches for water. Ac- 

 cording to this plan, a considerable quantity of Strawberry 

 ground is watered with very little labour, and it has the ad- 

 vantage of letting the water to the roots of the plants, so 

 as to keep the ground moist without hardening the surface, as 

 is the case when the tops of the beds are watered with pots. 



