SMALL FRUITS. 5 I 



If the winter promises to be excessively dry, canes and plants should 

 be covered deeper than otherwise. 



STRAWBERRIES. 



It is a familiar saying that " the Lord might have made a better fruit 

 than the strawberry, but He never did." By general consent it is the 

 king of small fruits, and prime berries are always in demand at a good 

 figure. Of all small fruits this most delights in rich soil, abundant moist- 

 ture, and good cultivation of course. The average soil will do if properly 

 enriched, but different varieties are partial to different soils. The 

 Jucunda, for example, is^a very indifferent bearer on light, sandy soil, but 

 is hard to beat on soil that is heavy and rich. Some kinds, like the 



X 



Well Set Strawberry Plant. 



Crescent, Wilson, Cumberland and Manchester, will do well nearly every- 

 where. 



But the general purpose soil that will satisfy reasonably well every 

 variety, is a deep, rich, moist loam, The matted row system is the one in 

 most favor in the West ; that is, setting the plants a foot or so apart, with 

 a space of three or three and a half feet between the rows, and letting the 

 plants grow together in, but not between the rows. This gives ample 

 space for cultivating, as well as irrigation. The tendency is for beds set 

 in this way to exhaust themselves early by making too many runners. 

 Hence they should be well supplied with .plant food. 



The narrow row plan is a good one for most gardeners, but requires 

 more care. In this the rows are two and one-half to three feet apart, with 

 plants one foot from each other in the row and the runners kept off. 



