STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 141 



foot v/ide, with six-incli prongs, to destroy any weeds lliat may begin to ap- 

 pear. An instrument to be found at the hardware stores, known as the 

 "potato drag," is the most suitable implement for this purpose that can be 

 found. It is like a five-tined fork, bent down in the form of a rake, and 

 answers the double purpose of fork and rake. I use it from the first, if the 

 ground is friable. 



I'he plants are now established, and ready to be covered over late in the fall 

 with hay, straw, leaves,' or anything of the kind which contains no seed.. Over 

 this, pea brush should be laid, to keep it from blowing off. This process of 

 covering answers many good purposes, among which arc, it keeps the fruit 

 clean, holds the weeds in check, retains moisture longer in the ground, and 

 last, though not least, without it, in spring, the frost coming out of the ground 

 is apt to crack the earth around the plants, and snap the spongioles or roots, 

 which are of essential importance to the early bearing of the plants. It is 

 necessary to part the straw from over the plants, and crowd it around the col- 

 lars of the same when the season fairly sets in, and there let it remain until 

 they are done fruiting. This is a practice of covering, the perfection of which 

 would be to crowd the straw around the collar of the plants, once for all, early 

 in the fall, and a little later, before winter sets in, with a wisp of the same cover 

 the crown and top entire. By this mode we avoid the possibility of the straw 

 becoming matted by rains and snows, which often smothers the plants and 

 retards their early vegetation. Of course this supersedes the necessity of part- 

 ing and adjusting the straw in the spring, as by the process first mentioned. 

 Bear in mind not to touch them with rake or hoe until they have done bearing. 

 If weeds appear, pull them up while young. 



When the plants are through bearing, the straw should be removed from the 

 ground, and the process of raking, spading, or forking begun. Here the potato 

 drag, or five-tined rake, plays a good part in forking in the alleys and between 

 the rows. All we have to do is to strike the spot, and, with the handle as a 

 ever, we raise the earth with the greatest ease, and with a lateral action of the 

 same break and, at the same time, leave it level at one blov/. I must here 

 remark the propriety of leaving the surface of the ground somewhat rough, for 

 the reason that the rains are apt to pack the surface too soon. This practice 

 is most important in heavy soils. The necessity of adding earth to the plants 

 as they require it for the side shoots, should not be forgotten, as,- of course, the 

 roots are nearer the surface of the ground. Hence the utility of planting as 

 low in the ground, the first year, as possible, so that the addition of dirt may 

 be made without rendering the bed an unsightly mass of hills and valleys. 

 But, before adding this soil, sprinkle a handful of ashes around the collar of 

 each plant. A proportion of three parts Avood ashes to one part soot answers 

 a good purpose in keeping off ants, grubs, and wire-worms ; it is also of great 

 service to the side shoots in giving them a vigorous start for the next season's 

 bearing. 



Field culture must necessarily vary from garden culture in some particulars. 



After the ground is prepared and made level, we would make three rows, on 

 the piiuciple stated for garden culture, fourteen inches apart, and set the plants 

 twelve inches distant in the rows, leaving twenty inches between that and 

 three rows more. Here we must, in planting, be governed by circumstances, 

 as some of our best varieties vary in their habit. For example, if- we plant 

 Wilson's Seedling, it succeeds best planted sixteen inches apart. Triomphe de 

 Gand does not spread quite so much ; therefore we plant them fourteen inches 

 apart. Hooker's Seedling, Prince Imperial, Brighton Pine, and others of the 

 so-called "shy bearers," should be planted six inches apart in the rows. Thus, 

 by a careful attention to the arrangements of varieties, we secure profitable 

 results. Then leave a space of about four feet for a road, that will admit a truck 

 or carriage on two wheels, that will hold a good-sized barrel, arranged some- 



