SETTING THE STRAWBERRY. 277 



action of the frost in winter, the ravages of the cutworm in sum- 

 mer, and the sharp, scorcliing drouth wliile the fruit is ripening, 

 are alike fatal in their results. The strawberry is found grow- 

 ina; wild in North America even as far north as the coast of 

 Labrador. It readily adapts itself to every variety of soil and 

 climate, and is undoubtedly the hardiest of all the small fruits. 

 While almost any soil, properly prepared and carefully culti- 

 vated, will produce a crop of strawberries, yet we should select 

 a deep, rich loam, with a mixture ,of clay — a soil which, in my 

 judgment, would stand the drouth in summer, and would so far 

 resist the action of frost as not to throw out the plants in winter. 

 The soil should be liberally dressed with well-rotted barnyard 

 manure, and, if not too heavy, an application of leached ashes, 

 at the rate of 160 bushels to the acre, will be found to be 

 exceedingly beneficial. 



To prepare the plants for setting, the dead leaves and runners 

 should be removed, and about one-third in length of the root 

 should be cut off. If the runners are suffered to remain the 

 plant is pretty sure to be pulled up by the hoe, in the course 

 of the season. Tlie rows should not be less than three feet four 

 inches apart. The distance between the plants in the rows, or 

 the number of plants used in setting an acre, is a point on which 

 there is a wide difference of opinion among the most successful 

 fruit-growers. There are those who still adhere to the old cus- 

 tom of setting them eight inches apart, and therefore use about 

 20,000 plants to the acre ; while others set 16,000, and from 

 that down to 8,000, or even 6,000. Without attempting to 

 decide who is right in the matter, or on the exact distance 

 apart which the plants should be set in the rows, I am inclined 

 to the belief that the yield is not in proportion to the number 

 of plants set to the acre, and that much money and labor are 

 annually expended in plant-setting that yields no adequate re- 

 turn. In the spring of 1867 I set 4,000 plants on 150 rods of 

 ground. The rows were three and a quarter feet apart, and the 

 plants about three feet in the rows. The runners were carefully 

 trained lengthwise the rows during the summer. Last spring I 

 took up 20,000 vigorous plants, and, although the season was 

 considered unfavorable, sold 4,000 quarts of fruit, averaging 

 one quart to the plant. Although the result in this case was 

 what I had hoped for, rather than anticipated, I would not 



