20 



ble, so that the horse and cultivator can be conveniently used 

 to keep the ground loose and clean. The hand hoe may answer 

 ,for small plots in the garden, but need onh* be used immediately 

 around the plants on large plantations. If the plants are to be 

 grown in " matted rows," the most common practice they 

 should be four feet apart. Matted rows a foot wide will do to 

 talk about, but they are seldom seen. A single row of fully 

 developed plants will spread at least a foot, and matted rows 

 are seldom less than two feet wide. This will leave only two 

 feet for the horse and cultivator. Where plants are to be kept 

 strictly in hills, or narrow rows, three feet apart will be a suita- 

 ble distance. 



Plants are usually set one foot apart in the rows, but varie- 

 ties that send out numerous runners may just as well be set two 

 feet. This should be the distance when set in spring, or where 

 the multiplication of plants is an object, as in case of some new 

 or valuable variety. If the land be rich, it will be fully stocked 

 with plants by fall. The runners may be trained in all direc- 

 tions, where plants only are wanted, and covered with soil at 

 each joint, to keep them in place and hasten rooting. Runners 

 push before the parent plants have fully ripened their fruit, and 

 after picking is over, make rapid growth. The new plants 

 only are of any value for making new beds ; old plants are 

 worthless. 



When plants are to be moved from one field to another, pro- 

 ceed as. follows : Lift the plants with a garden-trowel ; remove 

 all but two or three of the centre leaf-stalks and the fruit-stalks, 

 if any, with shears or a sharp knife ; straighten out the roots, 

 and cut them back one third their length ; sprinkle the plants, 

 if a dry day, and take them to the field or garden in a covered 

 basket, or in a pail with their roots immersed in muddy water. 

 Use a garden-trowel for opening the holes, and always set by a line. 

 If the weather is dry, let an active boy open the holes and drop 

 out the plants, a second boy fill the holes with water, while a 

 third sets the plants, being careful to have the crowns just even 

 with the surface. Spread the roots in all directions, and press 

 the soil firmly over them. It would seem as though no mistake 

 could be made in performing a process so simple, yet it will 

 take one man, on an average, to watch three boys, and imike 



