Runners which have been raised in boxes, thus avoiding any risk of
injury to the roots.

But Runners make a good return when kept low by topping, and without any
support whatever, a system adopted by many market gardeners. For this
method of culture space the plants one foot apart in single rows set
three feet apart. Pinch out the tips when the plants are eighteen inches
high and repeat the operation when a further eighteen inches of growth
has formed.

==General Cultivation.==--As slugs and snails are particularly partial to
the young plants, an occasional dusting of old soot, slaked lime, or any
gritty substance should be given to render the leaves unpalatable to
these pests. During drought copious watering of the rows is essential,
especially on shallow soils; spraying the plants in the evening with
soft water is also freely practised and this assists the setting of
flowers in dry weather. A mulch of decayed manure will prove of great
benefit to the plants and will prolong the period of bearing.

In some gardens Runners are grown in groups running up rods tied
together at the top, and when these groups are arranged at regular
intervals on each side of a path, the result is extremely pleasing. This
mode of culture interferes to a very trifling extent with other crops,
and the ornamental effect may be enhanced by growing varieties which
have white, red, and bicolor flowers.

Preserving the roots of Runners is sometimes recommended. We can only
say that it is a ridiculous proceeding. The utmost care is required to
keep the roots through the winter, and they are comparatively worthless
in the end. A pint of seed will give a better crop than a number of