THE AMATEUR CULTURE OF STRAW- 

 BERRIES. 



BY A MICHIGAN AMATEUR. 



Amateurs are, as a rule, self taught, commencing oftentimes with but little 

 idea of the relative productiveness or value of the various sorts that challenge 

 the attention of the planter, and possibly indulging the impression that 

 with this fruit little is to be done but to plant iu April or May and reap in 

 June; the tyro, — ignoring books, — is not unfrequently left to win his diploma 

 in the slow but effective school of experience. Failing, possibly again and 

 again, in his attempts to discover a royal road to success in strawberry culture, 

 if he does not abandon the attempt in disgust he will be finally led to the 

 conclusion that in this as in other branches of human knowledge and experi- 

 ence, in one way or another all will be compelled to pay the matriculation ; 

 also that it is as true in this as in most other human pursuits, that whatever 

 is worth doing at all is worth doiiig well. 



Fortunate is the man who, just launching out into strawberry culture (or 

 indeed in any other culture), has the forecast not only to make this his rule 

 from the beginning, but also to avail himself to the utmost of the wisdom and 

 experience of those who liad learned before him. 



In the cultivation and mannagement of the strawberry there are three gen- 

 eral plans or processes, each having its advantages, real or imagined, and each 

 more or less commonly practiced. 



1st. Planting in beds, leaving the plants to run together and cover the 

 entire bed ; renewing the plantation each alternate year. 



2d. Planting in rows, and suffering the plants to run together in the row ; 

 renewing the plants either on the same or on fresh ground after gathering one 

 full crop from them. 



3d. Planting on hills, keeping all runners removed, and continuing the same 

 plantation for several years. 



PLANTIIsTG IN BEDS. 



The first is the process practiced by the great mass of persons who, with 

 little experience or thought, plant for the supply of a home or family want ; 

 and if the ground is clear from the seeds of weeds, well prepared and planted 

 and properly cared for otherwise, the result is likely to be a few berries the first 

 year, and a good crop of moderate sized fruit the second season, when the 

 plantation will have exhausted itself, and should be turned under. This pro- 

 cess requires the planting of a new plat each Spring. The difficulties of this 

 process are: the amount of labor required to kee}i two plats clear of weeds 



