A B C OF STR.YWBERRY CULTURE. 37 



know that they would care to learn all the little niceties of tbe 

 business." 



I have given you the best way, and you can do as you 

 please. If the runners are entirely neglected they will produce 

 considerable fruit ; but not as much or of as fine quality. A 

 plant every six or eight inches, all over the ground, and no 

 more, is best. I am a little more particular in this part written 

 for farmers than I should be, because I hope that thousands of 

 farmers' boys and girls will get interested in strawberry-grow- 

 ing, from reading these pages, and I certainly want to advise 

 them to do their very best in whatever they undertake. It will 

 help greatly to make them successful men and women ; and al- 

 though I am only a farmer, I suspect that my berry -patch would 

 have to be just as good as I could make it, even if I grew only 

 enough for my own use. 



For a garden-patch I would not cultivate any more after the 

 runners half covered the ground ; and if the tillage was perfect 

 in the early part of the season you will not usually need to do 

 much more hoeing. Let what you do do, be very shallow. 

 Simply hoe over the ground that is bare, half an inch deep, 

 leaving the plants all the soil possible to send their roots out 

 in. They are thought to be laying up food in the crowns then, 

 to make berries of next season. By winter the ground should 

 be well covered with strong plants, if the soil was rich. I 

 would keep a path about 16 inches wide, hoed up between the 

 rows. If you have different kinds you must be sure to do this, 

 to prevent the plants running together and getting mixed. 

 This would do no harm for fruiting ; but you want to get pure 

 plants from your bed to set out the next spring. But of this 

 in another chapter. 



Of course, when hoeing, all through the season, you must 



pull with your fingers any little weeds that may get started in 



the hills, too close to cut off with the hoe. There need be very 



little fingerwork, however, \vith the hoeing always done on 



ime. 



