170 GARDEN AND FARM TOPICS. 



middle of September; but the sooner they are planted 

 the larger will be the crop. They may be set from pot 

 layers either in beds of four rows each, fifteen inches 

 apart, and fifteen inches between the plants, leaving two 

 feet between the beds for pathway; or be set out in rows 

 two feet apart, the plants in the rows fifteen inches apart; 

 and if the plants are properly set out, (care being taken 

 to firm the soil around the plant, which is best done by 

 pressing the soil against each plant with the foot,) not 

 one plant in a thousand of Strawberry plants that have 

 been grown in pots will fail to grow. 



For the first three or four weeks after planting noth- 

 ing need be done except to hoe the beds, so that all 

 weeds are kept down. Be careful to do this once in 

 every ten days; for if the weeds once get a start, it will 

 treble the labor of keeping the ground clean. If Straw- 

 berries are grown on a large scale, by all means use a 

 wheel hoe, such as the " Gem " or " Universal," which 

 will save four-fifths of the labor of hoeing, and do the 

 work better. In about a month after planting they will 

 begin to throw out runners, all of which must be pinched 

 or cut off as they appear, so that by the end of the growing 

 season (ist of November) each plant will have formed a 

 complete bush one foot or more in diameter, having the 

 necessary matured " crowns " for next June's fruit. 



MULCHING. 



By the middle of December the entire beds of Straw- 

 berry plants should be covered up with salt-meadow hay 

 (straw, leaves, or anything similar will do as well) to the 

 depth of two or three inches, entirely covering up the 

 plants and soil, so that nothing is seen but the hay. By 

 April, the plants so protected will show indications of 



