STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 257 



plants, and when found a part of the bloom should be removed to prevent 

 exhaustion, and the fruiting yield constantly renewed from these per- 

 fect and vigorous plants. The present custom of taking strawberry plants 

 from alongside of the wide matted row is very bad. It should never be 

 done. These plants are often the last to form in the fall and they have 

 immature roots and their fruit buds are not fully developed. The roots 

 being immature and standing alone without protection from the foliage 

 of other plants the frost weakens the roots so that they perish upon be- 

 ing transplanted. Strawberries lose their habit of fruiting by being propa- 

 gated from densely crowded beds. E-xperiment shows that strong fruit 

 buds will not form where the sun does not shine on the crown. We no- 

 tice that the foliage of an isolated plant droops in all directions, fully 

 exposing its crown to the light. A plant cannot assimilate its food ex- 

 cept its leaves are exposed to the sunlight, and as the substance which 

 forms the fruit must all first go to the leaves to be digested, this can not 

 be accomplished in even moderate shade. Plants also lose their fruit 

 bud forming habit by being propagated on land especially rich in nitro- 

 gen, and on low land with quicksand subsoil, which keeps the water near 

 the surface. Such plants become viney, and while they will form mil- 

 lions of plants to the acre, yet when transplanted to the fruiting field 

 they carry this habit with them, and instead of berries you get only 

 runners. 



For these reasons the wide matted row must be abandoned by all 

 who expect to grow strictly fancy fruit. Each plant must have its own 

 room, sunlight and root pasturage. In the wide matted row the plants 

 are struggling for existence, and constantly warring on each other. The 

 surplus plants not only "pump" the water out of the ground, but a crust 

 forms and excludes the air from the roots. But as the capillary passages 

 are perfect, in this packed soil, the water is drawn to the surface, carried 

 off by the suu and wind and the ground dried out with great rapidity. 

 The usual spring drouth, prevailing at about the time berries begin to rip- 

 en, often greatly reduces the size of the berries. 



GROWING IN HIDLS. 



The ideal way of growing berries is strictly in hills or stools. In this 

 way all runners are kept cut off as fast as they appear. If the plant is in 

 full fruit-forming vigor when a runner is cut, a new fruit bud and crown 

 will form; the roots will increase and force their way farther down and 

 spread out in search of food until the plants attain a wonderful size. We 

 have often had single plants grown in this way which could not be covered 

 with a bushel basket without doubling up the foliage, and from which over 

 four quarts of berries were picked. If, however, the plants have the 

 viney habit, when you cut a runner another will start in its place, and 

 it often requires the removal of several runners before a new fruit bud 

 will form. 



For hill culture the ground must be very rich or we cannot fully 

 occupy the land. To secure the largest yields we must have as many 



