74 A B C OF STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 



matter of plant-making. Man, having given her such an excel- 

 lent chance, must keep the reins in his hands, although the 

 controlling should be in the most natural way possible. To cut 

 off the runners all summer is not natural. We let them have 

 their own .way until the season's growth was about over. About 

 the middle of October, when we had our work done up so we 

 had plenty of time (perhaps a little earlier would be better), 

 we stretched lines through between the rows ; and one man 

 with shears cut runners, and another, with a hoe, cleaned out 

 paths 16 inches wide. This left two-thirds of the ground cov- 

 ered with plants. Next we went through these plants and took 

 out the old ones, set in the spring, all the little weak ones, and 

 enough of the strong ones so that what were left stood not less 

 than six inches apart, on an average. We did this work with 

 an old table knife, having about two inches of the end of the 

 blade bent nearly at right angles with the rest. We could cut 

 them out pretty well with this ; but friend Smith afterward wrote 

 me that, if I had taken my garden-trowels and ground the ends 

 sharp, I could have taken out, or, rather, cut off the plants we 

 wished to destroy, much faster. By the way, while I think of 

 it, we did not cut quite low enough down on some of the plants. 

 Some few that were cut near the surface, although all the top 

 was taken off, sprouted and grew some weak shoots from the 

 sides of the decapitated crowns. We will look out and cut a 

 little lower next time. When we got through this thinning 

 process, about two-thirds of the plants had been destroyed. 

 But my expectation is, that I shall get more fruit, and finer in 

 fact, the largest possible yield per acre. Great care was taken 

 not to disturb any plants except those taken out. The plants 

 left have grown in a natural way, and, since the others were re- 

 moved, have had, each one of them, reasonable feeding-ground. 

 It was no small job to take out these plants with an eye to the 

 " survival of the fittest. " Our rows were some 25 rods long. 

 It was a pretty good day's work for a man to go over one row 

 a day, with some varieties. Others, however, which naturally 



