AMERICAN HOME GARDEN. 425 



only to press the bar westward in the spring of 1859, and so 

 alternate it from year to year. 



The chief, if not the only objection to the use of such a 

 frame lies in the reduced amount of shade afforded to the fruit, 

 raspberries and blackberries seldom attaining their finest size 

 when entirely exposed, being also liable to scorch and become 

 imperfect in the full sun. In certain latitudes and soils thi s 

 may become a serious difficulty, and wherever it is so the stake 

 or single-bar mode should be adopted. 



THE STRAWBERRY. 



A great number of kinds of strawberries are in cultivation, 

 some of them very large ; others that range generally of better 

 flavor, but more moderate size. 



There are but two distinct systems of cultivation the one 

 may be called the hilling, and the other the bedding system. 

 In both systems, so far as garden culture is concerned, the 

 deepest and warmest soil it affords should be selected, and the 

 plants set out in rows twelve to fifteen inches wide, and a foot 

 apart in the row, with a narrow walk between every third and 

 fourth, or fourth and fifth row. 



In the hilling system the beds thus formed are kept perfect- 

 ly clear of weeds, and all runners from the plants are cut off 

 as soon as they start. 



Under this course of treatment, the plants, instead of over- 

 running the bed, form large branched or multiplied crowns, 

 from which, in its season, the fruit is produced finest and most 

 abundantly in the first full-bearing year, afterward gradually 

 declining, until in four or five years, at most, the beds must 

 be replaced by others. An annual top-dressing of compost is 

 applied after the crop is gathered, being lightly dug in with 

 the spade-fork. 



After the spring hoeing of such beds they are carefully 

 mulched by laying straw, or litter, or tan, or moss between the 

 rows, so that the fruit, when bent down by its own weight or 

 from dashing rains, will not become dirty and unfit for use. 

 For this purpose, a coat of cut straw, such as is commonly fed 

 to horses, etc., will be found excellent and easily applied. 



