I 



FRUIT PRODUCTION 197 



inches apart in the row. Frequent cultivation is practised 

 throughout the first season and the blossoms are picked 

 off to prevent any fruit from forming. About December 

 first a clean mulch of straw or other clean litter is spread 

 over the soil and vines to a depth of two or three inches. 

 In spring this mulch is parted just a little over the rows to 

 let the green leaves come through, and the mulch remains 

 on the soil between the rows until the crop of fruit is all 

 picked. Then the plants are mown and the mulch and tops 

 raked and burned. This destroys the diseases and insects. 

 Thorough cultivation is given until late fall and a mulch is 

 again put on as before. After two or three crops are obtained, 

 the plants are plowed under. 



In the matted row system of planting, the plants are set 

 three and one-half or four feet apart and the plants about 

 two feet apart in the row. Cultivation is given the first 

 year, but many of the runners sent out by the plants are 

 allowed to " take root " and form new plants in the 

 middles or aisles within about one foot on each side of the 

 mother plants. A mulch should be applied for winter, but 

 it is again removed in the spring. After the crop is picked 

 each year the weeds are pulled by hand from the wide matted 

 row of plants formed by the runners. The narrow strips 

 are cultivated as before. When two crops are obtained the 

 vines should be plowed under. 



Comparison of the Two Systems. — The hedge-row system 

 requires more vigilant care to prevent runners from taking 

 root, and an equal amount of horse power cultivation is 

 given to the plants. But there is very little hand weeding 

 necessary, as in the matted row. The mulch kept on 

 the soil through the berry-forming months keeps the fruit 

 cleaner; it keeps down weeds, and conserves the soil moist- 

 ure. In the hedge-row system the berries are larger and 

 cleaner; the yield of marketable fruit is greater, and the work 

 of picking is less. 



