June 13.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
from, should not he a greater distance than from one 
side of the foliage to the other. 
0. The leaves should he broad and healthy. No 
worse symptoms of bad cultivation can be apparent than 
the leaves being stunted, discoloured, and showing other 
symptoms of having suffered from insects.* 
THE ERUI’T-GARDEN. 
Strawberry Culture. —Anything connected with the 
culture of this much-esteemed fruit is, doubtless, at all 
times acceptable to the holders of small gardens; and 
as we have received several queries connected with this 
subject, we shall be doing something towards answering 
them by going fully into their culture. 
Soil. —A deep and mellow loam is most suitable; and 
by loam we do not mean fresh or maiden soil, merely, 
from the lields, but a soil which to the quality of uni¬ 
formity of colour adds a texture of a slightly adhesivo 
character, yet not so much of the clayey principle in its 
composition as to prevent its being readily disintegrated 
by the spade when in a condition between wet and dry. 
There are many gardens of a very sandy or even 
gravelly character; we have seen these at times so loose, 
and, in consequence, so poor, as that a great portion 
would slip off the spade in the act of removal. It is 
almost unnecessary to observe, that such are not loams; 
and that they will deserve the title commonly applied to 
them of “ hungry soils.” And, indeed, they may well 
be termed hungry, for apply what manure you will it is 
soon gone; its properties are carried through to the 
subsoil with every shower, or evaporated by its exceed¬ 
ing porosity and tendency to acquire an undue amount 
of heat. A good and sound loam, on the contrary, 
proves a more severe medium of filtration, and compels 
the waters to pay toll on their passage, holding, in fact, 
the chief of the manurial properties in a state of suspen¬ 
sion as they become disengaged, and thereby proving a 
sure storehouse of food to the roots. 
No success of a permanent character can be expected 
on the loose shingly soils above alluded to ; and it will 
be by far the best and truest economy to begin by cor¬ 
recting their staple. Marl is an excellent material; 
clay, powdered or burnt; ditchings which have become 
mellowed, especially if from clayey districts; and even 
pond-mud. Any or all of these may be used; but the 
very best material of all are the furrowing clods from 
clayey soils, if obtainable; these thrown in a heap with 
a little manure in layers, for half-a-dozen months, form 
the finest dressing imaginable, and, indeed, adapted for 
almost any garden purpose whatever. 
With regard to soils in which the clayey principle 
predominates, of course a very opposite mode of pro¬ 
ceeding becomes necessary. Such should be thoroughly 
drained, if necessary, in the first instance; and this 
woidd be well performed in the month of October. By the 
end of November any surplusage of water would be 
carried away, and the next thing should be to trench 
and ridge it for a winter’s fallow; before doing so, how¬ 
ever, something to ameliorate the texture of the staple 
should be added. Sharp sand, of any colour, of course 
will immediately suggest itself; next we would point to 
cinder-ashes, or, indeed, any ashes; then we may add 
lime rubbish; any or all of these mixed might be applied 
as a dressing before trenching, taking care that during 
the operation - they were well commingled with the soil. 
The ground being thus handled should be thrown into 
ridges, in order to mellow with the frost, and in the 
first dry weather in the early part of February the 
plot should be levelled down, and planting may pro¬ 
ceed. 
* The above are chiefly from Glenny’a Properties of Flowers, 
Planting. — Now we do not say that we advise 
February as the very best time for planting; we are 
speaking with reference to soils which require an 
amended staple, for amending which some seasons are 
better than others, and the planting out period may, 
therefore, become a secondary consideration. Those, 
therefore, who anticipate such a course, will surely 
provide plants in the previous summer; for nothing 
more would be necessary than to plant some of the 
earliest runners that could be obtained in rich beds in 
July, at about seven or eight inches apart; these will 
remove with a ball of earth, by means of a trowel, in 
February with full success, as we have oftimes proved. 
Having disposed of the questions concerning the cor¬ 
rection of the staples in the two extreme cases, of over- 
sandy soils and those in which the clayey principle j 
prevails, we may safely leave it to our readers to deter- j 
mine to which kind their respective localities incline, J 
and to modify their proceedings accordingly. The ouly 1 
thing further needed being that useful function called ! 
gumption, which, being a sort of vulgarism, we had better j 
translate as, common sense. 
Depth of Soil. —And, now, as to depth of soil really 
necessary, or merely desirable. A great warfare it would 
appear is constantly raging on this very point, in one 
part or another; for, strange to say, as soon as a victory 
is won, and the matter seems closed in one quarter of the 
gardening world, it breaks out anew in a second portion: 
so that the gardening writers of the year 1950 are quite 
as likely to have their hands full of such business as 
those of 1850, unless the world becomes less inquisitive; 
but we are not assured that this is the tendency of things 
as at present manifested. We have heard of an amateur, 
recently, who has taken it into his head that the soil for 
strawberries should be at least three or four feet deep. 
Now, we are far from having any aversion to a liberal 
depth, for such has much to do with the stability and 
permanency of the crop; but we are always sorry to 
hear of such extreme opinions, for they frequently deter 
others from pursuing their culture who are less for¬ 
tunately situated. Any one possessing fifteen inches of 
such soil as we have previously described, may rest 
assured that he can produce first-rate crops—other points 
of culture being good. 
New Plantations. —We come now to the consider¬ 
ation of making new plantations—a proceeding if not 1 
carried out finally in July, must at least receive attention : 
at that period; for plants must be prepared or provided, 
and the earliest runners alone are adapted to produce a 
full crop. In order to obtain good aud very early . 
runners, some special culture becomes necessary forth¬ 
with. A portion of the old crop should be set apart for ! 
this very purpose; that is to say, as much as will be J 
requisite to produce the desired quantity; and by special 
culture is meant, that some half rotten manure or vege¬ 
table soil should be spread over the ground about to be 
occupied with runners. The exterior of rows is generally 
devoted to this purpose, as the interior is too much 
shaded, whereby the plants become “ drawn.” 
If the strings are already out, they must all be care- j 
fully turned aside, in order to apply the mulch; and, 
where this is placed a couple of inches thick, the strings j 
should be placed carefully down again; training them 
a little, and loading them with a stone or lump of hard 
soil, in order to hold them fast until roots issue from 
them, which, with due attention, will be in ten days or a ; 
fortnight. In the mean time the waterpot must be in 
frequent use, for on keeping them always slightly moist 
depends at once the rapidity of their rooting, and the j 
strength of the plants. 
When the fruit is in course of ripening, not a foot ' 
must be set amongst these young aspirants for future 
plantations : all gathering must be performed from 
the other side; and weeds similarly eradicated—by-the- 
