CHAPTER XII. 



WHEN SHALL WE PLANT? 



T^ATURE has endowed the strawberry-plant with the 

 power of taking root and growing readily at almost 

 any season when young plants can be obtained. My best 

 success, however, has been in November and early spring. 

 The latter part of May and the month of June is the only 

 time at which I have not planted with satisfactory results. 

 In Northern latitudes, early spring is preferable, for at this 

 season the ground is moist, showers are abundant, and the 

 impulse of growth is strong. The weather is cool, also, 

 and therefore the plants rar©ly heat or dry out during 

 transportation. 



In the South, autumn is by far the best time to plant. 

 When the young plants are growTi on the same place, they 

 may be transferred to the fruiting beds and fields any time 

 between July and the middle of November. The earlier 

 they are set out, if they can be kept growing during the 

 remainder of the hot season, the larger v/ill be the yield the 

 following spring. As a rule, plants, unless grown in pots, 

 cannot be shipped from the North to the South until cool 

 weather. The forwarding to the latitude of Richmond 

 begins in September, and to points farther south in Octo"ber 

 and November ; from Florida to Louisiana I hear of almost 

 unvarying success. 



Of late years the practice of growing plants in pots and 

 .sending thern out as the florists do flowers has become very 



