LECTUEES AND ESSAYS. 459 



water will stand and become stagnant. Moisture is essential to the best 

 results, but there should be a good drainage. It is well to have the ground 

 prepared some little time in advance, so that it may have time to settle 

 somewhat before the plants are set. If you have not much land to spare, 

 then double your depth and it will double your crop, for next to enrich- 

 ing the soil the most important' step is to deepen it, from twelve to 

 fourteen inches will do, and work in well rotted barn-yard fertilizer, as far 

 as you go down. The surface should be quite rich that the young roots may 

 not have far to go in search of food. Have the surface smooth and mellow. 



Stretch a line down the length of the plat, two feet from the outer edge, 

 and set the plants along the line, one foot apart from each other. Let the 

 roots be spread out, and press the earth firmly over them with the fingers, 

 leaving the crown of the plant even with the surface of the soil. Now we 

 have the first row, move the line forward three feet, and set the next row, 

 and in the same ratio fill up the bed. Set out your plants in the after part 

 of the day, or just before a shower. Soak the ground thoroughly with 

 water before taking up the plants. Take new runners that are well rooted. 

 If you take them up with a ball of earth attached to their roots, it can be 

 done so carefully that they need not know that they have been moved, but 

 continue to thrive without wilting a leaf. Do not make your bed so large 

 that you cannot keep it free from weeds ; better have half as much and have 

 it well kept, for it will produce as much in the end, and fruit of much bet- 

 ter quality. If not convenient to cultivate, then keep them well mulched. 

 Cover lightly with straw or marsh hay for winter protection. If you want 

 some late berries do not uncover them very early in the spring. 



To grow in hills, keep all runners cut off ; it is claimed that for each runner 

 thus cut a crown is formed on the old plant, which puts forth one or two fruit 

 stems, the fruit on these being much larger and finer than those from matted 

 rows. If in matted rows, leave them a foot or more wide. The next season, 

 after they are through bearing, if intended for fruit only, cut off with a shears 

 or knife, all the first runners that appear, thus giving vigor and strong 

 growth to the set plants (the clipping off runners is a good out-door exer- 

 cise for that little girl or boy). In August, allow the runners to grow out. 

 Keep them well mulched with clean straw while they are bearing fruit ; it 

 will not only keep the fruit clean, but will help them through a drought. 



Now comes the question, what kind of strawberry is the best? It is not so 

 much in the name as in the care you give them. Some of these new kinds 

 with a king or queen attached to their names sound very nice ; we send for 

 them, pay a big price and plant them in our common soil, and in nine cases 

 out of ten, the king or queen becomes dethroned, and they are no better 

 than our despised Wilsons. I have Sharpless, Pioneer, Seth Boyden, Mon- 

 arch of the West, Bidwell, Manchester, Jucunda, Wilson and three or four 

 more kinds, but I would not give up the Wilson for many of these new 

 kinds. It has stood all kinds of abuse for more than thirty years. If you 

 wish for beautiful berries, grown on thrifty Wilson plants, set out plants on 

 the runners first or second from the parent plant ; they will be stronger and 

 bear larger fruit. And give them a fertilizer of leaf mold from the woods^ 

 And do not pick them until fully ripe. 



