STRAWBERRIES BY THE ACRE. 1 73 



not to work the ground any faster than the plants can be set ; at any 

 rate not more than one day ahead. 



As soon as the plants are set the cultivator should be started, so 

 as to keep the surface loose and to nip off any weeds that may ap- 

 pear. The hoe is a very useful tool in the strawberry field in keep- 

 ing' the ground loose and free from weeds. If the season is dry the 

 cultivator and hoe must be kept going to hold the moisture, and if 

 wet to keep the surface loose and dry as well as to keep down weeds. 

 When plants are set for fruit they should be arranged so as to in- 

 sure pollenization. I find that alternate rows of Bederwood and 

 Warfield, set sixteen inches apart in rows and four feet between 

 rows, give excellent results. If all staminate varieties are planted, 

 such as Bederwood, Splendid, Enhance, Lovett, Clyde and Parker 

 Earle, they can be set separately or in successive rows, as they are 

 all self-fertilizers. The varieties I have mentioned give the best 

 results with me. whether planted for home use or for the market. 

 The Parker Earle should be planted on low ground that has good 

 drainage, and if this variety gets plenty of moisture it is a "world 

 beater." 



As soon as the runners are well started the joints should be 

 pushed down in the ground, especially after rains, so as to help them 

 take root and form new plants. They need all the help they can 

 get, especially in dry seasons, but the rows should never be allowed 

 run together, and can be kept from so doing by running the culti- 

 vator, which should be adjusted to about the width of sixteen inches 

 and should be run through every week or so during the early fall, 

 always going the same way through the rows, so as to keep the 

 runners all running the same way. To obtain the best results the 

 blossoms should be picked off the season the plants are set. 



As soon as the ground is frozen hard enough in the fall to hold 

 up a team, a liberal supply of straw, grown on land free from foul 

 seed, should be placed over the rows and allowed to remain there 

 until the plants begin to push their way through in the spring, when 

 it should be removed and placed between the rows. This straw will 

 help to hold the moisture, keep down weeds, prevents the rows from 

 running into each other and furnish paths for pickers to walk on. 

 The longer the straw is left on in the spring, the less liable the 

 blossoms are to get pinched by frost, but it must be removed as soon 

 as the plants start to push their way through. Should there be 

 danger of frosts after the plants are in blossom, this straw between 

 the rows can be spread back over the plants again and by so doing 

 protect the blossoms from injury, but it must be removed as soon as 

 danger of frost is over. 



