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dued. The plants very soon become so thick that the hoe can- 

 not be used, and hand weeding on a large plot is out of the 

 question. The result is, that any attempt to give clean culture 

 must be abandoned, the grower taking one or two inferior crops 

 of fruit, when the vines are turned under with the plow. 



President Wilder says, "For garden culture, I like the 

 method of planting in rows three feet apart, with plants one 

 foot in the row, allowing each to make from two to four shoulder 

 runners, and no more, for the first season. These, by autumn, 

 will constitute a thrifty row of strong-bearing plants, and will 

 produce more than the common matted beds. For field culture, 

 I would plant in rows four feet apart, and a foot apart in the 

 row, and where wide beds are allowed, it will be found of great 

 benefit to pinch off all superfluous runners, so as to have none 

 but strong plants. Some varieties require to be grown in hills, 

 and to have the runners cut off as soon as they appear such as 

 the Sharpless, Bidwell, and Triomphe de Gand. Parker Earle, 

 an extensive grower of small fruits at the West, says, " Let as 

 many runners grow as will make a narrow matted row : cut the 

 balance, keep the middles clear all the time." E. P. Roe, 

 author of " Success with Small Fruits," says, " I am satisfied 

 that the method best adapted to our Eastern and Western condi- 

 tions is what is termed the c narrow-row system,' believing that 

 it will give the greatest amount of fine fruit with the least de- 

 gree of trouble and expense. The plants are set one foot from 

 each other in line, and not allowed to make runners. In good 

 soil they will touch each other after one year's growth, and 

 make a continuous bushy row." 



In garden culture, plants may be set in beds not raised beds 

 of three or four rows each, the rows eighteen inches apart, 

 and the plants one foot apart in the rows. Leave walks at least 

 two feet wide between the beds for convenience in hoeing and 

 picking. There will be no occasion for stepping on beds thus 

 set for any purpose. Cut all fruit-stalks, and, if to be grown in 

 hills, all runners as the} 7 appear. Keep the ground mellow, al- 

 low no weeds to grow, and mulch in case of severe drouth. 

 Such a bed will remain productive, if top-dressed annually for 

 five or six years. 



