STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 173 



(November 1st) the plants set out in August are nine 

 inches in diameter, with three to six crowns. This 

 mulching after planting is equally beneficial to Celery or 

 any other crop that it is necessary to plant during the 

 hot and dry months of July, August, and September. 



FIELD CULTURE. 



Strawberries for field culture are usually planted from 

 the ordinary layers, either in August and September in 

 the fall, or in March, April, or May in the spring. They 

 are usually planted in rows, two to three feet apart, and 

 nine to twelve inches between the plants. In planting, 

 every plant should be well firmed, or great loss is almost 

 certain to ensue, as the Strawberry is a plant always 

 difficult to transplant. They are usually worked by a 

 horse cultivator, and generally two or three crops are 

 taken before the beds are plowed under; but the first 

 crop given (which is in the second year after planting) 

 is always the best. The same care must be taken as in 

 planting by pot layers, the ground kept clear of weeds, and 

 the runners pinched or cut off to make fruiting crowns. 



By the usual field method of culture, it will be seen 

 that there is a loss of one season in about three; for in 

 the year of planting no fruit, of course, is produced, and 

 for this reason I incline to the belief that, if a portion 

 were set aside to produce early plants, so that pot layers 

 could be set out by the i5th of July, a full crop of the 

 finest fruit could be had every season, and with less cost, 

 I think; for the only labor after planting is to keep the 

 ground clean and pinch off the runners, from July to 

 October, with the certainty of getting a full crop next 

 June, or in less than a year from the time of planting, 

 while by planting by ordinary layers, if planted in 



