STRAWBERRIES. 175 



fruit having been overrun with grass. No such 

 result need follow if the plants are cultivated in a 

 single line, for then the manure can be raked off 

 in early spring, first of April in our latitude, 

 and the ground cultivated. There is a great ad- 

 vantage in employing light manure if the system 

 I advocate is followed, for the melting snows and 

 rains carry the richness of the fertilizer to the roots, 

 and winter protection serves a double purpose. 



We will now consider the proper management 

 for the second year, when a full crop should be 

 yielded. I know that many authorities frown upon 

 cultivation during the second spring, before plants 

 bear their fruit. I cannot agree with this view, 

 except in regard to very light soils, and look upon 

 it as a relic of the old theory that sandy land was 

 the best for strawberries. Take the soil under 

 consideration, a sandy loam, for instance. After 

 the frost is out, the earth settled, and the winter 

 covering raked off, the soil under the spring sun 

 grows hard, and by June is almost as solid as 

 a road-bed. Every one knows that land in such 

 condition suffers tenfold more severely from 

 drought than if it were light and mellow from 

 cultivation. Perennial weeds that sprouted late in 

 the fall or early spring get a start, and by fruit- 

 ing-time are rampant. I do advocate early spring 

 cultivation, and by it I almost double my crop, 



