A B C OF STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 69 



CHAPTER XI. 



ALL THE DIFFERENT WAYS OF GROWING STRAWBERRIES 

 TALKED OVER MATTED BEDS ; MATTED ROWS, THICK AND 

 THIN, WIDE AND NARROW ; ROWS OF STOOLS ; CHECK ROWS, 

 ETC. WHEN TO LET RUNNERS GROW JUST HOW OUR HALF- 

 ACRE WAS MANAGED CIRCUMSTANCES ALTER CASES. 



Before the writer began strawberry-growing he talked with 

 many growers in Ohio and Wisconsin, while attending insti- 

 tutes. Almost without exception he was told that the best way 

 to grow for market was in matted rows. But some favored 

 narrow rows ; and some, wider ones. Right here it had better 

 be explained to beginners, that growing in matted beds means 

 setting out the plants in tows, say four feet apart, and then let- 

 ting the runners entirely cover the ground. When grown in 

 what is called matted rows they are set out in the same way ; 

 but by the use of the cultivator and hoe, and what are called 

 runner-cutters by some, they are kept in rows or drills var}ing 

 in width according to the grower's notion. When I was at Mr. 

 Farnsworth's I judged his rows of plants were about 18 inches 

 wide. He said the cultivator had been kept busy in the rest of 

 the space. In the spring, after taking out what plants he wants 

 from the outside edges of the rows, in such a way as to leave 

 them a,bout a foot wide, he hoes up all the other plants neces- 

 sary to reduce the rows to this width of one foot throughout. 

 In this foot of row he prefers to have the plants stand rather 

 thinly. Mr. F. considers this the best plan for field culture in 

 a large way, or did at the time of my visit. He grows ,a good 

 many acres of strawberries. If grown in hills he says he would 

 expect larger berries, but does not consider it possible for him 

 to make as many dollars per acre in that way. 



Mr. F.'s plan is about the same as that of most growers I 

 visited or talked with, although on an average the jowsof 

 plants aie left wider. However, growers were found who kept 



