120 Notices of Communications to the Society, of which 



the Vine continued to produce defective bunches as before. 

 Mr. Ross further observes, he has been in the habit of fer- 

 tilizing with considerable success the clusters of the Black 

 Damascus Grape in a forcing house, by suspending over the 

 blossoms, when fully open, bunches of the flowers of those 

 sorts whose pollen is produced in perfection, which may have 

 been necessarily taken off the Vines in the house : the bunches 

 thus suspended should be occasionally shaken, to cause a 

 dispersion of the pollen. 



John Williams, Esq. of Pitmaston, near Worcester, com- 

 municated in a letter to the Secretary, on the 4th of No- 

 vember, the particulars of a mode of cultivating Strawberries, 

 which he has pursued with success. He raises small ridges 

 of earth (running north and south) about nine inches above 

 the level of the ground, and plants the Strawberries on the 

 top, laying flat tiles on each side of the ridge. He finds the 

 produce earlier, more abundant, and better flavoured than on 

 plants grown on the flat ground. In shallow soils this 

 method has the advantage of giving increased depth of mould 

 for the roots, and the flat tiles placed on the sides of the 

 ridge not only receive and reflect the rays of the eastern and 

 western sun, but preserve the moisture under them, so that 

 in very dry weather it will be found that the ridges require 

 less water than the common beds. Mr. Williams observes, 

 that this mode of planting would be too expensive for market 

 gardeners, but in private gardens it is worth attention, as, in 

 addition to the other advantages above recited, it keeps the 

 fruit free from dirt after heavy showers of rain. 



