A B C OF STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 25 



neighbor's. I have had farmers ask me if they could get some 

 plants from my bed after we were through picking, and just 

 when we were going to plow them under. They were for sav- 

 ing a few cents ; but it was "penny wise and pound foolish." 

 Get good plants to start with, and then I will tell you, further 

 along, how to have good ones ever after. I could not advise you 

 better than to write to the secretary of your nearest horticultu- 

 ral society, putting in some stamps, or attend their meetings 

 and ask your questions. Most of our agricultural papers now 

 have horticultural columns, and one can get advice from reli- 

 able sources by writing to the editor. 



When your plants come, the sooner they go into the ground 

 the better. If they come at night, or. your ground is not quite 

 ready, you may set the box or basket they come in down cellar 

 until you are ready to put them out. If it is likely to be more 

 than a few hours, I would open the bunches (they come tied 25 

 or 50 in a bunch, usually), slightly spreading out the roots in a 

 little trench of moist mellow soil, and cover them with the 

 same, and then shade the plants. Where you send for a few 

 plants by mail to test, or get a start from, if they come when it 

 is not a favorable time to set them out you can dig a little 

 trench and "heel them in," putting the plants about three 

 inches apart, and covering the roots with moist dirt ; then 

 shade from the sun until they start to grow, when they can be 

 taken up carefully, with the dirt adhering to the roots, and set 

 out where they are to grow, some cloudy day, or just before a 

 rain. If I get plants by mail at night I heel them in before I 

 go to bed. 



I have spoken in this chapter of late frosts injuring straw- 

 berries. Perhaps I may as well describe now just how it hurts 

 them. The leaves are not injured in the least ; but the blos- 

 soms that are touched by it will usually be killed that is, they 

 will produce no berries. If you want to know whether they 

 are injured after a frost, go out after the sun has shone on the 

 vines for a few hours ; and if the clump of pistils in the center 



