some distance from the plants and then loosen the snrface soil close to them with 

 a hoe. Hoeing should be thorough and regular, because if weeds once get a start 

 among the new plants and runners the labor is much increased. 



A careful man with the hoe can do much toward increasing the CTop. Every 

 new plant formed by the runner should have a space of at least four or five 

 inches square, and while it is not practicable to space the runners by hand the 

 man with the hoe can do mucli to prevent crowding. If a runner is placed where 

 wanted and a little earth put on it. leaving the terminal bnd free, it will take 

 root and grow where covered. Many growers make the mistake of conserving all 

 the runners no matter how great in number they may l>e. This, of course, is 

 advisable where they are not of sufficient number to make a matted row, but 

 if new plants average, as stated previously, one to al^out four or five inches square 

 there is nothing 'lost and sometimes much gained by cutting out the surplus. 



The following quotation is taken from the Department of Pomology report, 

 in the Eeport of the Ontario x4.gricultural College for 1910, and shows quite 

 conclusively the value of the careful spacing of the runners; if one year's experi- 

 ments as here quoted can be accepted as conckisive. 



The following table shows results secured in spacing strawberry runners by 

 hand instead of allowing them to find their places naturally: — 



Bow Xo. 1. Row Xo. 2. 



Runners hand-layered: Runners layered natui'ally 



29 lbs. 3^4 ozs. U lbs. 1134 ozs. 



"The figures given represent the yields for thirty feet of measured row. Plants were 

 set at eighteen inches in the row, with rows four feet apart. Runners were spa'jed to six 

 inches in the case of Row No. 1, and evenly distributed around the parent plant to a total 

 width of fifteen inches. A large number of surplus runners were removed entirely. 

 Row. No. 2 was somewhat wider than Row No. 1 and, of course, contained a much larger 

 number of plants. 



"It will be noted that these yields are at the rate of 10,600 pounds of fruit per acre 

 from the plants spaced by hand, and 5,348 pounds per acre from those which were 

 allowed to form runners without interference — a difference of .5,242 pounds per acre in 

 favor of the former. The variety was Parson's Beauty. The specific reason for the great 

 difference in the yields lies, no doubt, in the fact that the season was particularly dry, 

 and the conclusion to be drawn is that crowded plants suffer much more under such 

 conditions than those not crowded. In order to prepare for seasons like 1910, it would 

 most certainly pay to take the extra time necessary in preventing over-crowding of 

 plants in the row." 



The man witli the hoe is also expected, in the new j^lanting. to carefully pinch 

 off all bUossoms as they appear at the beginning O'f the season. A plant cannot 

 produce both fruit and runners well, and just at this time it is well to conserve 

 all energies for the production of plants. 



When cultivating it is good practice to always culti'^iate the same way on 

 each row, or the same way on either side of the row at each cultivation. By taking 

 this precaution many runners are not disturbed that otherwise would be. 



All surplus runners' that extend beyond the required width of row should 

 be removed either by hand or with the cultivator. 



Matted Row or Hill System. — The matted row is the system followed 

 in all the large commercial plantings, because it has the distinct advantage of 

 producing large quantities. It has been argued that l)erries of largest size and 

 highest quality cannot be produced in this way, which may or may not be true; 

 good fruit is, nevertheless, produced. In the hill system the plants are set twelve 

 to fifteen inches apart in the row and from twenty-four to thirty inches apart 

 between the rows, and all runners, as well as all blossoms are pinched off as soon 



