250 Strawberry-Growing 



pear three or four weeks after the plants are set ; after that 

 it is necessary to cut the blossoms every seven to ten 

 days. If the blossoms are not removed during the spring 

 months, the plants will ripen a few berries throughout the 

 summer, but not enough to be worth while. They should 

 be removed until midsummer, or until three weeks of 

 the time when a crop is desired, and single-bearing varie- 

 ties depended on for a spring crop. If set out in the 

 fall, there will be a heavy spring crop and some fruit 

 during the summer and fall. 



Everbearers require higher culture than spring-bearing 

 sorts. Rich soil and an equable supply of moisture 

 throughout the growing season are essential; if either 

 are lacking, the everbearing habit is weak. They do 

 not bear much in a dry summer or fall. If the soil is 

 not rich, fertilizer should be applied three or four times 

 during the season. Some varieties, as the Progressive, 

 set runners freely and bear on the young runners as soon 

 as they are rooted ; these should be trained in narrow 

 matted rows. Varieties that make few, if any, runners, 

 as the Superb, should be grown in hills, about one by 

 three feet apart. 



Harvesting and marketing. 



The yield at one picking is small compared with a 

 picking from single-bearing varieties. It costs three to 

 five cents a quart to pick everbearers, or twice as much 

 as to pick a spring-bearing variety. During July and 

 August, everbearers need to be picked three or four 

 times a week; in September, twice a week; in October, 

 once a week may be sufficient, as the fruit ripens very 

 slowly in cool weather. When the nights begin to get 

 cold the berries are poor in color and flat in flavor, but 



