146 Bulletin 189. 



Rent of land, two years $11 00 



Plowing and fitting 6 00 



Plants 15 00 



Setting plants 4 00 



Cultivation 16 00 



Straw for winter and fruiting mulch 15 00 



Labor — hoeing, pulling weeds, etc 10 00 



Total cost. . , , $77 00 



Many growers raise berries at a much less cost, and a few exceed 

 tliis sum especially when located near a large town where rents are 

 high ; ])ut it would be safe for one about to engage in strawberry 

 growing to figure close to this total, aside from the cost of fertilizer. 



As to metliods of planting, it may be said that the old method has 

 been discarded, — planting in rows three to three and one-half feet 

 apart and the plants from twelv^e to hfteen inches apart in rows, 

 keeping off the runners until late in July and then allowing the 

 runners to grow and root at will making a matted row. In this old 

 system many plants are almost on top of others, the roots barely in 

 the ground, and the}^ suffer in a season of drought. The rows are 

 so wide that to pick fruit in the center it is almost necessary to 

 crush fruits on the outside of tlie row. This system gives few large 

 first-class fruits. The up-to-date grower starts with the assumption 

 that the largest and highest colored fruits are found on plants along 

 the outside of the rows, and therefore he plans to have as many out- 

 side rows as possible. This he accomplishes by having his rows 

 closer togetlier and much narrower. The rows are made from 

 thirty to tliirty-six inches apart and the plants from eighteen to 

 twenty-four or even thirty inches apart in the rows, much depend- 

 ing on the capability of the variety as a plant-maker. If tlie plants 

 used for a new bed are strong and start into growtli vigorously, tlie 

 first runners are used, as it has been found that under most condi- 

 tiiHis the plants aljout twelve months old yield the greatest number 

 of line fruits. Tliese hrst runners are nsually " bedded in," i. e., 

 planted by hand, training them along the wide way of the I'ows, 

 using from four to eight of the first runners and cutting off those 

 growing later. This method of planting allows cultivation both ways 

 nntil the runners start, retaining moisture and saving labor in hoeing. 



