334 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the spaces equally, which leaves six or eight inches between plants ; 

 if to be cultivated with a horse, have rows three or three and one-half 

 feet apart. All other runners should be clipped off as fast as they 

 appear, and plants will stool up to an immense size. In this way 

 each plant sends its roots out in every direction in search of plant 

 food and can be depended upon to mature a good crop. The whole 

 surface can then be cultivated and mulched, which also has a ten- 

 dency to retain much more moisture than by the other systems. 



After good cultivation has been given the first season the 

 plants are mulched and prepared for winter quarters. Win- 

 ter covering is very essential. Perhaps the material most com- 

 monly used for that purpose is straw, but marsh hay is good, or 

 anything that will protect the plants from freezing and thawing 

 and is free from weed seeds. 



There are several ways of propagating strawberry plants, but 

 I will give but one along the line we are working. 



A strawberry plant, although a small affair in itself, has the 

 power of doing great things if handled properly and given the re- 

 quired conditions. It has been our aim to try and improve the va- 

 rieties of strawberries we are propagating the same as animals or 

 fowls are improved. 



In order to do this we secure the best plants obtainable to start 

 with, of the standard varieties. A plant is like a young animal, and 

 needs the proper care from the beginning to get the best results. If 

 a calf gets a setback when young, it never wholly recovers from the 

 effects. The same applies to a plant. Although it may grow, it 

 will not be profitable. Cultivation, plenty of plant food in the soil, 

 early planting, when there is plenty of moisture, and restricting 

 blossom bearing, are all very important factors. 



We make our standard high in selecting plants to propagate 

 from, and no second plants go — only to the dump. In the propa- 

 gating patch runners are layered by hand and not too closely to- 

 gether, as the plants need sunlight to get best results, and they also 

 need plenty of rootage. When plants are layered the parent plant 

 is then relieved, and the new plants have a better chance to become 

 established and mature before fall. We cultivate after every rain 

 and often during dry weather, with the "Planet Junior" 12-toothed 

 cultivator, with pulverizer attachments, which leaves the ground as 

 level as a floor and the soil fine as can be made with a cultivator. 



There is also a runner cutter attachment, which clips runners 

 when growing berries in hedge row or by the hill system, and we 

 also use it late in the season to clip the last runners off, as they are 

 poor, weakly plants. 



