STRAWBERRIES FOR PRIVATE GARDENS. 



841 



weight of fruit will be gathered when the plants are two years 

 old. For the making of new beds the best runners will also be 

 obtained from the young plantation. 



Destroy the plants after the second crop is gathered. Two 

 seasons is long enough for them to be on the ground, which 

 may be planted with Broccoli, or any other winter crop, as soon 

 as cleared. This method, it will be seen, entails the making of 

 one bed and the destruction of another annually. 



The preparation of the ground must be done thoroughly. 

 Bastard trenching I prefer, when necessary to trench at all, and 

 heavy manuring, as the land is required to produce three crops 

 from this one preparation. The winter season is the best in 

 which to undertake the work ; the extra labour can best be 

 spared when other subjects are not so pressing. 



It is not necessary to keep the ground fallow until the first 

 week in August (when the young Strawberry plants ought to be 

 ready for transplanting), but a crop, say of Onions or Carrots, 

 may be sown in rows 80 inches apart, as that distance will 

 allow ample space for the young Strawberry plants to grow 

 without being shaded. 



Varieties to Grow. — I will only name the highest flavoured 

 (out of some sixteen varieties that I must own I cultivate) in their 

 order of ripening, leaving the selection of the large, showy 

 varieties to the fancy or taste of the cultivator— La Grosse 

 Sucree, Vicomtesse Hericart de Thury, Sir J. Paxton, President, 

 The Countess, Auguste Boisselot, British Queen, Dr. Hogg, 

 Loxford Hall, Elton Pine, and Waterloo. 



If strong runners of La Grosse Sucree are planted at the foot 

 of a south wall in August, and the border well mulched, they 

 will produce an excellent crop early in the following June. At 

 Gunton I can rely upon it being ready by the middle of the 

 month. In warmer districts it would be ready ten days or a 

 fortnight earlier. A succession of fruit may be obtained by 

 planting Vicomtesse Hericart de Thury on a south border, to 

 come on before the main crop is ready in the open garden. 



For north borders, to prolong the supply after the bulk is 

 over, I plant Loxford Hall, Elton Pine, and Waterloo. The latter 

 is the most valuable of the late varieties, and may be planted 

 quite at the foot of the north wall, thus prolonging the crop to 

 the end of August. Forced plants that were planted out in 



