Stream Corner

There is no fruit like the strawberry for proving the value of organic methods of growing. It is a woodland plant or, should I say, a plant which loves to dwell on the edges of woodlands where it gets the sun and yet is constantly being 'fed' by the falling leaves of trees.

The strawberry growers of the early Victorian days used to take a delight in grubbing large coppices and then to use this land for strawberry growing. It was then, of course, very rich in humus and had a nice soil structure also.

In fact, the plants are only a few weeks old, really, when they are put out in their new position. They are obtained from the one-year-old plants either by pegging down the runners in the sedge peat mulch or by taking the trouble to sink 3-inch pots filled with a John Innes Com- post into the soil close to the healthy one-year-old plants which have been selected. A bent wire, like a hairpin, is then pushed down behind the plantlet on a runner.

Once the strawberry plants are in position they will be fed twice a year: first of all early in April and, secondly, immediately after fruiting.' In the spring a fish manure will be given at 3 oz. to the sq. yard, and in the late summer steamed bone flour will be applied, or hoof and horn meal, at 3 oz. to the sq. yard. On light sandy soils some extra potash may be necessary, and then wood ashes can be used in the summer with the bone meal at 4 oz. to the sq. yard.

It is not possible to grass down in between strawberries but it is tremendously advantageous to reduce cultivations to a bare minimum. In fact, the mulching with the sedge peat is the ideal method.

The rows can be 2 feet apart an.d the plants set out 18 inches apart in the rows. Those who allow runners to root in between the rows and so cultivate strawberries on what is called the matted-bed system, often have the rows 3 feet apart, with the plants 15 inches apart in the rows.