156 ABC OF STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 



average farmer or gardener has when he tries to raise strawber- 

 ries. So the moral of this concluding thought is this : Be sure 

 that you do not choose ground for your strawberry-patch that 

 is already abundantly seeded with weeds. In fact, if you are 

 going to be a successful grower, and if it can be so managed, 

 neither should any weeds be allowed to go to seed in a neigh- 

 bor's land adjoining. 



Now, I think we can not have a better ending to our straw- 

 berry book than to give a couple of letters showing what may 

 be done on a small amount of ground devoted to strawberries, 

 and also showing what enthusiasm and excellent care will do. 

 The first comes from a friend whom I ran across by accident. 

 While visiting bee-keepers in Wisconsin it became convenient 

 to be carried by a livery across from one town to another. I 

 had no destination in Boscobel, so I told the driver to set me 

 down at some place where there were plenty of bee-hives. 

 When I saw a very pretty dooryard comprising about half an 

 acre, with not only bee-hives, honey-house, etc., nearly arrang- 

 ed, but containing, also, a bed of nice thrifty strawberry -plants, 

 I told him he might let me drop right there. The following 

 letter refers to this visit. This letter also shows what irrigation 

 may do during severe dry weather. 



STARTING STRAWBERRY-BEDS FROM NEW PLANTS IN JULY. 



In friend Root's special department in Gleanings he once said, " You 

 can set out strawberries (providing you have the plants ready) in the 

 months of July, August, September, and October. But the earlier you can 

 get them out, the greater will be the crop the coming season." I called 

 my wife's attention to it, and told her that I was going to try a bed of 

 strawberries set out in July; and on the spur of the moment, when it was 

 fresh in my mind, I went to a bed of Jessie strawberries that I had set out 

 last fall and this spring, and had not allowed them to mature their fruit, 

 on account of wanting plants from them early. Well, between the 10th 

 and 15th of July, this season, I took therefrom 270 fine plants, and set them 

 out in a bed that I had prepared for them. The bed consisted of 3 rows, 

 each 4 rods long, and about 30 inches in distance between the rows. I did 

 not have any of friend Root's transplanting-tubes. But I lost only two or 

 three plants out of the 270. I took extra care of them, and kept them wa- 



