38 



over by the sturdy, ensuing growth. Other things being 

 equal the best start is usually made by propagating from 

 plantations which are approaching but not yet past the 

 prime of life. The selection of stock plants from old, worn- 

 out exhausted beds should be frowned upon. The straw- 

 berry should be taken from beds after their first full 

 season's growth before the plants have exhausted them- 

 selves by fruiting. 



We are already b'eing taught humility, in the question 

 of "pedigreed stock" and "improved strains.'' Theoreti- 

 cally a most enticing and alluring proposition, yet in actual 

 performance many of these so-called "improved" and 

 "pedigreed'' high priced plants often fall far from the mark 

 and are not one whit better and sometimes are inferior to 

 the class of plants already described as desirable for setting. 



CULTURAL TREATMENT.— The preparation of soil 

 and of the plants for setting, the time, distance and manner 

 of setting, the depth of setting and all such operations are 

 kindergarten methods to those in the harness and are not 

 difficult of performance; however, they cannot all be fol- 

 lowed by rule of thumb and are almost as diverse as the 

 number of the men in the business. It is uphill work to care 

 for plants in land not thoroughly prepared at the start and 

 sometimes it is necessary to begin preparation a year in 

 advance by deeper plowing, by using a hoed crop to decrease 

 the weeds in foul land or by underd raining. The best of 

 plants soon degenerate into worthless stock and have a 

 profitless existence if the soil conditions are not right. When 

 the land is in first class shape the plants should be set as 

 promptly as possible when conditions are favorable. The 

 time of planting is variable. Under New York conditions 

 strawberries, black and purple raspberries and dewberries 

 should preferably be set in the spring; red raspberries and 

 blackberries may be set in fall or spring but preferably in 

 the fall owing to the earliness of the unfolding of the buds. 

 Large-growing varieties and rich soil mean a wider distance 

 of planting while dwarfish plants and poorer soils may re- 



