THE SECOND CROP, 167 
may be added. In the dark days of midwinter there may 
not be enough light to make these new shoots strong in 
such close planting as we practice, and it is better, there- 
fore, to delay starting them until the fruit from the first 
crop is nearly all full grown. But in late February and 
March the new shoots may be allowed to become 3 
or 4 feet long before the old shoots are cut down. Of 
course, much will depend upon the distance at which the ° 
plants are set, the lightness of the house, and the fertility 
of the soil. Shoots which were about a foot long when 
the old tops were cut down the first of March gave ripe 
fruits the first and second weeks in May. We have 
noticed that strong and stocky shoots from 6 inches to 
a foot long give fruits about as early as weak and slen- 
der shoots 3 and 4 feet long, and they make better 
plants. With judicious treatment, the second crop can 
be made to follow the first with an interval of four to six 
weeks only, although this is difficult with the close plant- 
ing which we have employed. One shoot may be trained 
out from each plant to take the place of the old top, or 
two shoots may be allowed to grow and some of the old 
plants cut out entirely. The advantages of either prac- 
tice are about equal in the box system of growing. Mr. 
Pennock trains his plants to a single stem for winter 
bearing. For later fruiting, he trains out two or three 
shoots from each plant. But Mr. Pennock grows his 
plants in beds or benches and sets them 2x2% feet. 
In any case, each of the second shoots should bear as 
much as the first one did, and usually more, because of 
the greater amount of sunlight later in the season. The 
old top is cut off an inch or so above the junction of the 
new shoot. 
Another method of obtaining the second crop is to 
bury the old plants. As soon as the fruit is off, the soil 
is removed between the plants, and the stems, deprived 
of lower leaves, are coiled down into the hole until only 
a foot or so of the tip projects. The earth is then filled 
