THE STRAWBERRY, 



grown in the open garden in plantations freely exposed to the sun and air. 

 The place of the strawberry in a rotation of crops in the kitchen garden is 

 given in 919 — 4. The plants are generally planted in rows, but sometimes 

 in beds ; and they are occasionally planted as edgings to gravel- walks. In 

 this latter mode they bear well : the gravel of the walk retaining moisture 

 and its surface reflecting heat, w^hile nutriment is obtained from the border ; 

 but the fruit in this situation is apt to be soiled by the gravel after heavy 

 rains. In whatever way the strawberry is grown it requires to be renewed 

 every third, fourth, or, at the latest, fifth year. Instances, however, are 

 given of the pine grown on a strong loamy soil, which has been top dressed 

 every two or three years, and producing good crops for tw^elve or twenty 

 years. In some of the sorts, such as Keens' seedling, the Swainstone, and 

 hautbois, the scape which bears the fruit is strong and rises above the leaves 

 and keeps it clean ; but in others, as in the scarlets, the scapes are short 

 and weak, and the fruit reclines on the ground ; and with all this class of 

 strawberries mulching is a desirable point of culture. 



1246. Culture in rows. — In the ordinary mode of culture the runners are 

 planted in rows varying in width with the kind of strawberry, and the time 

 during which the plantation is wished to last. If that should be four or five 

 years, the rows of the kinds belonging to the first four classes may be two 

 feet six inches apart, and the plants placed at one foot six inches distant in 

 the row. Next year a few good-sized early fruit will be produced from 

 each plant ; a good crop the year following, and a full crop during the third 

 and fourth years ; after which, owing to the large size which the stools will 

 have attained, the fruit, though produced in abundance, will be smaller. As 

 the ground will not be fully occupied the first year, a row of onions may be 

 sown in the middle between every two rows of strawberries. A little manure 

 may be dug in every year late in autumn, diminishing the quantity if the plants 

 run much to leaf, and increasing it if the foliage appears deficient in vigour. 

 Top dressings may also be applied in autumn or winter with great advantage ; 

 and such may consist of leaves, dung, any rich compost, or even loam alone, 

 and their own decayed foliage may also be included ; of the latter, therefore, 

 the plants should not be deprived, by previously mowing and clearing off the 

 leaves in autumn, as is often improperly done. The strawberry being a 

 native of woods, is naturally covered with leaves every autumn, and hence, 

 a top dressing that would smother many other kinds of plants, will prove 

 beneficial to the strawberry. All the runners should be taken off, excepting 

 such as are wanted for a new plantation, as soon as they appear, and more 

 especially before the fruit has ripened. 



1247. Culture in beds. — The large kinds are planted in rows two feet 

 apart and eighteen inches distant in the row ; each bed contains two rows, 

 and an interval of three feet wide alternates with each bed, as an alley from 

 which to w^ater and gather the fruit, &c. The late Mr. Keens grew his 

 strawberries in this manner. The runners were first planted in a nursery 

 bed, where they remained from August till March ; when they were removed 

 to the fruiting beds. There they bore an excellent crop the first year, a 

 very good crop the second, and a good crop the third ; after which the 

 plants were dug dowTi. Another mode of growing strawberries in beds is as 

 follows : a plot of ground is laid out in beds three feet wide, with alleys 

 between fifteen inches wide ; and each bed is filled with plants one foot apart 



