May, 190S1 



STRAWBERRIES FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



167 



removed. The area necessary for the full development of one 

 plant is often occupied by three to five plants, which, having a 

 greater number of leaves, evaporate more soil moisture and after 

 the first picking produce only small inferior berries, often hav- 

 ing hard, undeveloped tips. Hand thinning of plants is not 

 advised, neither is it necessary, as a proper stand may be se- 

 cured by spacing the plants when setting according to the 

 growth and later training the runners to vacant spaces when 

 hoeing and cutting off the late runners which extend into the 

 walks. Fig. 3 shows an over-stand with ])lants 3 inches apart 

 each way. Fig. 4 shows a proper stand with plants 6 inches 

 apart. 



The following table gives the results obtained at this Station 

 of an experiment to show the relative value between thick and 

 thin spacing. 



Irrigating. 



Strawberries contain over 90% of water, therefore requiring 

 a large amount of moisture in the soil during the fruiting season 

 in order to produce a heavy crop of large berries. Irrigation is 

 expensive and is not considered a profitable venture by most 

 commercial growers. By avoiding an over-stand of plants and 

 retaining the natural soil moisture by summer mulching, a good 

 crop should be obtained in an average season without resorting 



