420 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



any variety are desired for new beds or fields, a row or more are 

 allowed to send out runners, during the summer, and these are fit for 

 taking up and replanting the following winter or spring. 



Laying off Ground for Strawberries. The essentials are deep 

 and thorough pulverization of the soil and grading of the surface so 

 that water will flow slowly in the ditches. Suggestions as to location 

 of grade lines may be found in Chapter XV. The inclination which 

 answers for water distribution may be very slight ; about two inches to 

 the hundred feet answers on the level lands of the Pajaro Valley, while 

 in the foothills much greater fall is made use of, and on hillsides rows 

 are located on contour lines and not in straight lines. A grade of three 

 and three-quarters inches to the hundred feet is sometimes used. The 

 triangle described in Chapter XV can be used to fix the grades. 



Of course, in grading the field it is often necessary to give adjacent 

 blocks opposite inclinations to provide for the return of the water. On 

 hillsides, where the water is carried down a ridge to a flume, it is usual 

 to keep the water always running away from the flume, and only enough 

 is taken out to reach the ends of the small ditches. A grade of six 

 inches to the rod is practicable for hillside irrigation, but of course only 

 a small flow of water is employed. 



There are various ways of laying out strawberry beds and planta- 

 tions. Some give flat cultivation and lay out in single rows two and a 

 half to three and a half feet apart, and in some districts flat culture is 

 unquestionably the best. Others lay out in double rows a foot and one- 

 half to two feet apart, and between each pair of rows the soil from the 

 center is drawn up to each side, making a low ridge or level a little 

 higher than the surface on which the plants are set. This levee serves 

 as a walk between the beds and holds back the water upon the bed 

 when irrigated by flooding. Another, and generally adopted plan, is to 

 have the plants in double rows on a slight ridge, while between the 

 beds is a furrow which serves as a walk and for irrigation. This is 

 accomplished by throwing up the soil with the plow into ridges about 

 two feet wide, with a double furrow between. On the sides of these 

 ridges the plants are set, and often on the top of the ridge between the 

 rows of strawberries a single row of onions or lettuce, or some other 

 vegetable, is grown the first year. In irrigation the water is drawn up 

 from the trenches by the roots and by capillary attraction, and the upper 

 surface does not bake as it would by flooding if the soil be heavy. In 

 hoeing out weeds and in fruit gathering, the workman walks in the ditch 

 and does not pack the soil around the plant by tramping. This is the 

 best method for laying out for large plantations. The rows are a uni- 

 form distance apart across the field, whether the space between be a 

 ridge or a ditch. The method of making the beds a little lower than 

 the general surface of the ground, answers best on free, open soils with 

 perfect drainage. Cultivation can be reduced by covering the depressed 

 surface of the bed with mulch of fine, clean litter, such as chaff, cut 

 straw, etc. This retains moisture and gives the berry a clean surface 

 to rest on. Such a bed is an excellent arrangement for the home garden. 



In all arrangements the plants are set at less distances in the rows 

 than the rows are from each other. Probably the prevailing distance is 



