218 IRRIGATION FARMING. 



gation which also serves for a passage when the beds are 

 being weeded or the fruit gathered. It is best to arrange 

 these furrows so that the water runs down one furrow 

 and back in the next, the fall of the land not being as 

 the furrows run, but from the first to the last. Before 

 planting, the water should be run on, so as to see that 

 the irrigation is so arranged that it just reaches to within 

 two inches of the edges of the ridges. 



Planting and Cultivating. The plants should 

 be set out a foot apart on the south side of the ridges, 

 two inches above the watermark, so that the water will 

 not run over the crowns. They then draw up the mois- 

 ture through the roots by capillary attraction, and the 

 surface of the beds does not bake as it would do by flood- 

 ing. The fruit is not damaged by muddy water. In 

 transplanting, it is best to have the roots spread out fan- 

 shaped, and the soil should be well packed around them, 

 which we consider of great importance. Plant, if possi- 

 ble, on a cloudy day; but if this cannot be done, the 

 plants must be irrigated at once. Eun the cultivator 

 through the patch once a week. A good irrigation every 

 two weeks is usually sufficient during the first season, 

 and when the runners begin to grow train them so that 

 plants will be six inches apart, which gives a narrow 

 row. After the desired space is covered keep the run- 

 ners cut off. Shading is a great help to newly set plants, 

 especially to those set in late summer or early fall, but 

 of course this is impracticable in the case of extensive 

 planting. Keep the cultivator going and do not allow 

 the plants to suffer for water. As the runners begin to 

 /row, let the inside shovel on the cultivator draw them 

 lengthwise of the rows. As soon as the ground freezes 

 in winter, cover the entire patch with coarse straw, or 

 liirht barnyard manure, as free from weed seed as may 

 'Pli is mulch is to be allowed to remain until the 

 plants show signs of blooming in the spring, when it is 



