HORTICULTURE 257 



In dragging the ground the disk or cutaway harrow may be 

 used upon heavy ground, but ordinarily the Acme or springtooth 

 harrow followed by a smoothing harrow or weeder will give good 

 results. If the soil is at all cloddy, good results will be obtained with 

 the use of clod crusher or roller. 



In this way many of the small weeds which may start will be 

 destroyed, and the labor of hoeing and cultivating during the season 

 will be greatly lessened. The aid from this is so great that many 

 growers purposely delay the putting out of the plants for several 

 weeks on this account only. In the small gardens it will be advisable 

 to have the strawberry plats so arranged as to allow the use of the 

 plow, as it will do better work than the spade as ordinarily handled, 

 and in much less time. Where the area is sufficient to permit the use 

 of a horse, the land should be marked off at the proper intervals; 

 these will vary with the method selected for the handling of plants. 

 When the matted row is used the distance should be S 1 /^ to 4 feet, the 

 latter distance being preferred by many growers; but when the hill 

 system of planting is used, the rows may be as close as 2^ or 3 feet, 

 while some growers who expect to work the ground both ways, mark 

 the land in squares of 2 feet. 



Plants and Planting. All strawberry growers are aware that it 

 is only the plants formed by the runners that should be used for the 

 new plantation; these have yellowish white roots, and can thus be 

 distinguished from the older plants, which have a long stem at the 

 lower end of which are black or brown roots and rootlets, many of 

 which are dead or broken. If plants of good quality, which can be 

 depended upon to give large crops, are desired, those selected for 

 planting should have good crowns and well developed roots. As a 

 rule only the first plants on the runners should be used. When the 

 plants are allowed to layer freely a large number of weak sets are 

 produced, and, although these will grow, they give a small yield and 

 the practice, if persisted in, will result in the running out of the 

 variety. 



The best plants can be secured from fields that have been 

 grown but one year and which have not as yet fruited. The practice 

 of obtaining plants from old plantations, although used by many 

 persons, is not a good one, as continued fruiting cannot fail to sap 

 the vitality of the plants and the runners produced by them will not 

 give as good results as those from young plants. Whatever method 

 of digging the plants is used, whether by spade, fork or potato hook, 

 care should be taken that they are not exposed to the drying action 

 of the sun or wind, and as soon as dug they should be placed in 

 baskets, boxes or bags, and after being moistened should be put 

 where they can be kept fresh and prevented from wilting. 



Dealers in strawberry plants, when picking up the plants after 

 they have been dug, generally remove the dead or diseased leaves and 

 runners, and at the same time straighten out the roots and the 

 remaining leaves. The plants are then tied in bundles or packed in 

 baskets or boxes. Sometimes the operation of trimming and bunch- 

 ing the plants is not done in the field, as it is found easier to do this 



