FAK^IERS' INSTITUTES. 305 



should be set in rows two feet apart and one foot apart in the row. May and 

 August are the two months recommended by horticulturists as the proper time 

 for transplanting. But my experience has taught me that strawberries can 

 be transplanted with equal safety any time from the first of May until the 

 middle of November, provided the soil is moist and the weather favorable. 

 But transplanting should never occur during a drouth. If we expect a crop 

 the succeeding year the plants must be put out in the month of May or June, 

 and all blossom "buds nipped and runners cut as soon as they make their appear- 

 ance. This is done to lessen the tax upon the young plant, and thus aid the 

 roots in their increase and develop the plant the first year. 



If we are in haste, and have the means, there is another and a shorter way by 

 which the plants of one year old can be made to yield a liberal crop. This is 

 done by placing the cliits of the first runners tliat make their appearance in 

 June in a small flower pot which is sunk to the level of the soil, the runner 

 being kept in its place by a small stone placed on it. Plants thus treated, if 

 jrat out by the first of September, will yield a fair crop the next season. This 

 is called the layering system, and is practiced by those who have plenty of 

 means and time, and who garden for pleasure. Ordinarily it takes the growth 

 of two seasons to secure a crop. 



During the drought of the past season we had to resort to every conceivable 

 plan to secure" young plants. The scarcity of plants prompted me to save what 

 I had all my life looked upon as worthless. During the dry season the runners 

 from the main hill would grow liberally, but the absence of moisture in the 

 ground prevented the chits from taking root. During the four months 1 trans- 

 planted all the well developed plants, which were far less in number than 

 the chits ; then later I trimmed and planted them in a mellow soil in my gar- 

 den. This was done by taking the crown of the chits between my thumb and 

 two fingers and placing them firmly in the soil prepared, after which I gave 

 them a thorough watering, and to my great surprise nearly all of them took 

 root and bid fair to become thrifty vines for transplanting in the spring. The 

 strawberry plant is a hardy and thrifty vine, and will survive almost any treat- 

 ment, but, like every body and thing that has life, it appreciates kind and gen- 

 erous attention. 



I have said that in the garden culture of this fruit the rows should not be 

 over two feet apart and one foot in the row. This is for the reason that in the 

 garden the cultivation is all done by hand, and every foot of land is to be util- 

 ized. But my experience is that in field culture from thirty to thirty-six inches 

 between the rows is the proper distance, and from twelve to fifteen inches in 

 the row. This gives ample room to use the subsoil plow and cultivator, which 

 must be largely depended upon if we expect to realize a fair profit from the 

 crop. 



Varieties. 



"ISTow comes the tug of war." We have some fifty varieties, and each 

 has its advocate. The difference in the judgment of different persons touch- 

 ing the good or bad qualities of any berry growls out of location or climatic 

 influences, and a berry that proves a success in one locality will prove a failure 

 in another. Some berries require a heavy soil, and the demand of others is 

 equally great for a high porous soil We have tried a great many varieties, but 

 for all kinds of soil, all kinds of climate, and all kinds of treatment, the Wil- 

 son is unsurpassed. I have had the Jucunda on my grounds for the last ten 



