8 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



naturally inclined to stool, a very strong grower, and having thick heavy 

 crowns and roots. The berries are of good size and quality and will 

 hang on- the vines for daj's, in the hot sun, without souring or scalding. 

 I picked this season a pint of berries from a single plant that had been 

 set only two months, without seemingly impairing the vitality of the 

 plant. It made a strong, rapid growth after fruiting. There are many 

 other varieties that are worthy of trial, but these five can be relied upon 

 for profit in this section. 



To take up plants, use a potato-hook. Strike deeply, throw out the 

 earth and plants together, shake out the plants, and immediately put 

 them into bushel baskets, when enough are secured for one day's plant- 

 ing. Remove from iall exposure to wind and sun, to the packing-house, 

 where all runners, dead leaves, and weak plants are sorted out. Pack 

 the plants, straight and tight, with roots down, in half-bushel climax 

 baskets. Mark the name of variety on the basket. As fast as filled, set 

 the basket in four inches of water, in a tub, leaving about five minutes, 

 or till the roots are wet. Then set them in the shade till needed. 



Setting the plants is particular work. I use a dibble made of half- 

 inch hard wood, eight inches long and five inches wide, beveled to a 

 sharp edge, and cover the lower point with tin to keep it sharp. I take 

 the dibble in the right hand and brush the dry dust from the surface, 

 then push the dibble into the soil, making a V-shape hole deep enough 

 to admit the roots; and at the same time reach into the basket at the 

 left, for the plant, invert the hand and plant, shaking it till the roots are 

 all separated, then place it in the ground, arranging the roots fan-shape; 

 then take the dibble and stamp around the plant, filling all depressions 

 around the roots. Then press the ground down so firmly that a leaf 

 could be pulled off without disturbing the plant. Be sure that the 

 crown is on a level with the soil after setting. 



The best time to set strawberry plants is in the spring. Fall planting 

 should be done in August or September, so the plants can get well rooted 

 before winter. 



There are three ways of growing strawberries: (1) The matted row, 

 which we see almost everywhere, is too thick to stand the dry weather 

 we generally get and still produce good, marketable fruit. (2) The half 

 matted row, about ten inches wide, where plants are not closer than 

 six inches, will on good soil produce a fine lot of berries. (3) The hill 

 system is the best way to grow nice berries. Set the plants three feet 

 each way, or three and one half feet by eighteen inches, making it easy 

 to cultivate and keep clean. So soon as the runners appear, cut them 

 off with a sharp hoe or cutter, thus retaining the growth and vigor for 

 new crowns to the hill. 



The strawberry plant is a constant multiplier, so it is for us to decide 

 whether we want the plants all over the ground, in rows, or consolidated 

 into one mammoth hill, which will in all cases produce the finest fruit. 

 If everybody would adopt the hill system there would be more satisfac- 

 tion all around, and less grumbling about scrub stock and poor returns. 



This simple act, cultivation, of which the theory is so poorly under- 

 stood among many farmr^rs, would better be investigated, so as to stop 

 the old practice of deep cultivation to conserve moisture. I use nothing 



