THE STRAWBERRY. 



597 



small central ones, should be cut off, the roots kept wet and 

 carefully spread out when set, as just described. The earth 

 should be well settled about them with water, and mellow 

 earth then drawn over the surface. A covering of fine manure, 

 an inch or two in thickness, is then spread on the ground to 

 preserve the moisture. It is only in cases of severe drought 



FIG. 799. 



FIG. 800. 



that further watering is required. But when given it should 

 be copious and repeated daily until the fresh leaves begin to 

 expand. By this treatment scarcely a plant will be lost. If 

 the work is done well they will bear a good crop the following 

 season, and a heavy one the next. The well-rooted runners 

 should be taken up, so as to secure all the fibres, lifting the 

 roots out with a spade and shaking the earth carefully from 

 them ; if pulled severely by the hand the roots will be torn off. 

 The older and dead leaves should be cut off from the plants. 

 and the roots trimmed to about two and a half inches long. 

 For ordinary field culture they may be set out with a dibble 



(Fig. 799), care having been previously taken to immerse the 

 roots in mud to prevent drying. But for more finished or for 

 garden culture, it is better to spread the roots out like the 

 frame of an umbrella (Fig. 800), and set them in a hole broad 

 enough, with a small mound in the centre, on which the 

 spread roots rest and form a cap, as shown in Fig. 80 1. 



Mr. F. Richards, of Freeport, N. Y., has invented an instru- 

 ment for transplanting strawberries, which does the work ex- 



