CULTURE. 461 



square, the first two feet square shall be permitted to bloom and 

 fruit at its usual time ; the next two feet shall have only its first 

 fruit-stems plucked when just about to bloom ; the third shall have 

 its entire foliage and fruit-stems cut close to the ground, and when 

 the second fruit-stems appear, they are also to be picked as in the 

 second plat ; the fourth shall be treated as the third, but receive no 

 moisture after the first cutting for a space of ten days or two weeks. 

 The result will be a succession of fruit in order. 



Modes of Culture. — Different varieties require measurably dif- 

 ferent modes of culture in order to insure full and perfect fruit. 

 That of cultivation in hills of about two feet apart, one plant to a 

 hill, the runners regularly destroyed, is most successful with the 

 Wood and Alpine varieties,"^ and also returns the largest and most 

 perfect berries with nearly all the Scarlets and Pines ; but at the 

 price of labor in this country, it is regarded as too expensive to com- 

 pare favorably with the following modes in rows or strips, which 

 liave been successfully and largely practised in this country, and are 

 thus described by A. J. Downing : 



'-'■Culture in Rows. — The rows should be two feet apart, and the 

 plants of the lar^e srowina; kinds two feet from each other in the 

 rows ; of the smaller growing kmds, from one foot to eighteen inches 

 is sufficient. The runners must be kept down by cutting them off 

 at least three times a year, and the ground maintained in good order 

 by constant dressing. During the first year, a row .of any small 

 vegetables may be sown in the spaces between the rows. Every 

 autumn, if the plants are not luxuriant, a light coat of manure should 

 be dug in between the rows ; but if they are very thrifty, it must be 

 omitted, as it would cause them to run too much to leaf 



"A light top-dressing of leaves, or any good compost, applied late 

 in the fall, greatly promotes the vigor of the plants, and secures the 

 more tender kinds against the effects of an unusually cold winter. 

 Before the fruit ripens, the ground between the rows should be 

 covered with straw or new-mown grass, to keep it clean. A plan- 

 tation in rows is generally in full perfection the third year, and must 

 always be renewed after the fourth year." 



Culture in Alternate Strips. — " Strike out the rows three feet 

 apart with a line. Plant along each line, about a foot apart in the 

 row. The plants will soon send out runners, and these runners 

 should be allowed to take possession of every alte rnatestrip of thi-ee 

 feet, the other strip being kept bare by continually destroying all 

 runners upon it, the whole patch being kept free of all weeds. The 



