14 



I'L ANTING ON SOD. 



As a rule, never plant small fruits on sod land if it can be 

 avoided. Still, if such land is plowed up early in the fall, 

 when covered with grass or clover, the sods will become well 

 decayed by spring, and may be worked fine with the Acme, or 

 one of the wheel harrows. The soil may thus be made mellow 

 four or five inches deep, without disturbing and bringing to 

 the surface uudecayed herbage. The roots of plants on such 

 land will strike down into the decayed sods and make them- 

 selves quite at home. If an application of manure is spread 

 broadcast on the land before plowing, all the better. 



The great danger in planting such land with strawberries 

 would arise from the white grub, so common in sod laud, often 

 proving very destructive to the plants. 



DRAINAGE. 



Whatever the character of the soil selected for small fruits, 

 care should be exercised that no water stands over or around 

 the plants in winter. A heavy rain will often occur after the 

 ground has frozen in the fall, filling depressions, and sometimes 

 covering a large level plot completely with ice. This is sure to 

 prove fatal to the plants frozen in and excluded from the air. 

 Outlets should be seasonably provided for the escape of sur- 

 plus water from all low places, and even on level plots it is 

 safer to plant in beds slightly raised, to avoid this danger. 

 Where there is a slope to the land, which will almost always be 

 the case, the width of the bed may be greater, and the elevation 

 less, in proportion to the fall. 



On all wet lands under-draining of some kind must be 

 attended to or the plants will be thrown out by frost, and this 

 should be done, of course, before the plants are set. Tile for 

 this purpose will be found the best, cheapest, and every way 

 the most satisfactory. Where rocks are abundant and must be 

 removed at all events, they may be utilized for this purpose ; but 

 the flow of water in stone drains is liable to become obstructed, 

 while tile drains, properly laid, never fail. The depth tit which 

 tiles should be laid ought never to be less than three feet. 

 The expense of excavation will be much less than for more shal- 

 low drains when stones are used. Any one about to put in 



