THE SECOND CROP. 167 



may be added. In the dark days of midwinter there may 

 not be enough light to make these new shoots strong in 

 such close planting as we practice, and it is better, there- 

 fore, to delay starting them until the fruit from the first 

 crop is nearly all full grown. But in late February and 

 March the new shoots may be allowed to become 3 

 or 4 feet long before the old shoots are cut down. Of 

 course, much will depend upon the distance at which the 

 plants are set, the lightness of the house, and the fertility 

 of the soil. Shoots which were about a foot long when 

 the old tops were cut down the first of March gave ripe 

 fruits the first and second weeks in May. We have 

 noticed that strong and stocky shoots from 6 inches to 

 a foot long give fruits about as early as weak and slen- 

 der shoots 3 and 4 feet long, and they make better 

 plants. With judicious treatment, the second crop can 

 be made to follow the first with an interval of four to six 

 weeks only, although this is difficult with the close plant- 

 ing which we have employed. One shoot may be trained 

 out from each plant to take the place of the old top, or 

 two shoots may be allowed to grow and some of the old 

 plants cut out entirely. The advantages of either prac- 

 tice are about equal in the box system of growing. Mr. 

 Pennock trains his plants to a single stem for winter 

 bearing. For later fruiting, he trains out two or three 

 shoots from each plant. But Mr. Pennock grows his 

 plants in beds or benches and sets them 2x2^ feet. 

 In any case, each of the second shoots should bear as 

 much as the first one did, and usually more, because of 

 the greater amount of sunlight later in the season. The 

 old top is cut off an inch or so above the junction of the 

 new shoot. 



Another method of obtaining the second crop is to 

 bury the old plants. As soon as the fruit is off, the soil 

 is removed between the plants, and the stems, deprived 

 of lower leaves, are coiled down into the hole until only 

 a foot or so of the tip projects. The earth is then filled 



