122 APPENDIX. 
doubts, however, as to the economy of bad culture in_ 
the long run. If a proper system were adopted at the 
outstart, and followed up with regularity, it would not 
be found so profitless or expensive. In this, as in 
every other kind of culture, a system is absolutely 
necessary. A certain routine of operations which are 
easily executed if taken at the right time, become bur- 
densome when deferred; and being so, they are not 
unfrequently put off altogether. Precisely thus it is 
that strawberry beds are neglected, both in market gar- 
dens and private gardens, until they are grown wild 
beyond hope of recovery. Now, we say to every one 
who wishes to cultivate strawberries, resolve at once 
upon abandoning the “lazy-bed” system; and if you 
cultivate but a square rod, do it well. 
We advise planting in rows not less than two feet 
apart, unless ground be very scarce, when eighteen 
inches might suffice, and the plants to be twelve to eight- 
een inches apart in the rows. In extensive field cul- 
ture, the rows should be at least three feet apart, in 
order to admit the use of the plough and cultivator 
between them, or even the passage of a cart to deposit 
manures or mulching material. The spade and wheel- 
barrow are too costly implements for an extensive cul- 
ture where labor is scarce and high, as with us. From 
_ the time the plants are set until the fruit is gathered, 
the runners should be cut away as fast as they appear, 
and the ground be kept clear of weeds, and well worked. 
In the fall, or before the setting in of winter, a mulch- 
ing of half-decayed leaves or manure should be placed 
between the rows, coming close around the plants, 
leaving the crown or heart uncovered. This mulching 
