THE GARDEN 153 



freezing weather. This keeps the ground from freezing 

 and thawing often during the winter, and so tends to 

 protect the roots from damage. In spring, the covering 

 should be raked off and the ground between the rows 

 well cultivated. Just before the fruit ripens, the ground 

 between the rows should be mulched with straw or grass, 

 to keep the fruit from being spattered with dirt by the 

 rain. 



After the strawberry harvest is past, if the bed is to 

 be kept for another crop, it is well to mow off the plants 

 close to the ground with a scythe or mowing machine. 

 The cut-off material may then be dried in the sun, and, 

 with the mulching that remains between the rows, raked 

 from the bed and burned. This will destroy some harm- 

 ful insects and diseases. The wide rows may then be 

 narrowed down to about six inches in width. This may 

 be done by cutting all the plants off just beneath the sur- 

 face of the ground with a sharp spade, except in a strip 

 six inches wide through the center of the row. The 

 ground between the rows should then be enriched by 

 spreading decayed manure over it, and should be well 

 cultivated. If the weather be dry, the plat should, if 

 possible, be well watered. New plants will then be 

 formed on both sides of this narrow row, and, by fall, 

 the rows will be as wide as they were in the spring, and 

 most of the plants will be young. 



Some gardeners plow up the strawberry bed after the 

 first crop of berries has been picked. Others treat it as 

 above directed, and pick a second crop the following year. 

 Still others keep the bed until the third crop has been 

 picked. If the bed is kept free from weeds, and is well 



