CHAPTER XLII 



STRAWBERRIES 



IT is really remarkable, considering the ease with which straw- 

 berries can be cultivated, that this most luscious of summer 

 fruits is not found growing more frequently in the gardens 

 of country cottages and homesteads, and even in the smaller plots 

 of ground attached to suburban and town houses. In not a few 

 gardens one finds an old strawberry bed, made years ago, in which 

 the plants have been neglected, and have become matted and 

 choked with runners. They are too utterly exhausted to produce 

 fruit, and are merely wasting space, to the exclusion of more pro- 

 ductive occupants. 



Where this state of affairs has been allowed to prevail it is 

 best to dig up the whole plantation and make a fresh start, and 

 the end of July is an excellent opportunity for accomplishing the 

 task. 



The simplest and safest plan is to obtain new rooted plants in 

 pots. These, of course, cost a little more than rooted runners 

 taken direct from the ground, but they will be found to be stronger 

 and better established, and will be more likely to yield a good crop 

 of fruit in the following June and July than the less sufficiently 

 matured runners. 



A most important operation in the efficient culture of the straw- 

 berry is the preparation of the bed or border in which they are to 

 thrive. Strawberries require rich feeding, and it is useless to 

 attempt to grow them on hungry soil, from which they cannot 

 derive the nourishment necessary to their well-being. Therefore 

 the soil should be good to begin with, and it should be deeply dug 

 and worked beforehand, so as to be ready for the young plants 

 when the time comes for putting them out. While the digging is 

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