FRUIT ON THE FARM. 273 



SOIL. Strawberries flourish on a great variety of soils, and 

 no one should be deterred from planting them because his soil 

 is not the best. Any soil that will grow good corn will grow 

 strawberries; but it should be made rich, and should be clean, 

 deep, and mellow. A good loam or loamy clay upland will 

 give the best results. Plow deep in the fall, and manure on 

 the surface with finely rotted barn-yard manure that contains no 

 foul seed, and plant as early in spring as the plants are in good 

 condition for setting. This will be when they have started to 

 grow, but before the fruit buds show. I much prefer spring 

 planting to fall, as it is easier to put a bed in good order 

 and plant it in spring than to get it so if it has been planted 

 in the fall, and a fall planted bed will not give a crop the en- 

 suing spring, and requires more care and labor than if the 

 planting is deferred, as it must be protected two winters before 

 getting a crop. 



There is little question that the best results will be obtained 

 by keeping off all runners,, as the energies of the plant will then 

 be directed to the development of fruit buds. The advantages 

 of this plan are that the fruit will be finer and more abundant, 

 the bed cultivated with less labor, and can be kept longer in 

 bearing, and nearly all the work of cultivation can be done with 

 a horse; while, if the runners are allowed to set and form a 

 matted row, they must be kept clean by hand. In garden cul- 

 ture, plant rows two feet apart and the plants twelve to fifteen 

 inches ; but for field culture, where the hill system is to be fol- 

 lowed, I would plant two by two and half feet, so as to culti- 

 vate both ways. This would give 8,712 plants to the acre. See 

 that the plant are fresh and vigorous; the roots should never be 

 allowed to dry. Our best strawberry growers emphasize this 

 point, and even recommend that the plants should not be 

 dropped ahead of the one who is setting them out, but carried 

 in a vessel with a little water or damp moss. It is also recom- 

 mended that the roots be shortened one-third of their length, and 

 the tops should always be trimmed of all dead leaves and old 

 runners, so as to leave three gre.en, vigorous leaves. With the 



close planting recommended it is important that the rows be per- 

 is 



