STRAWBERRY CULTURE 93 



one variety is grown in the same field, and there is no danger of 

 any change in color, shape, or flavor through the influence of the 

 pollen of different varieties. Weather conditions, rains, cold, 

 heavy winds, frosts, lack of insects, or the particular variety, all 

 have a bearing on the completeness or incompleteness of the 

 fertilization of the blossoms and upon the increase or decrease of 

 "nubbins." Contrary to the opinion of some growers, there is 

 iio correllation between sex and yield. 



Preparation of soil. "Well begun is half done" in preparing 

 the soil to receive the strawberry plants and seldom if ever is its 

 preparation overdone. If the soil be foul it may be necessary to 

 begin a year before setting the plants by the use of cultivated 

 crops. The applications of manure to the soil, time and depth of 

 plowing, particular methods of bringing the soil be^ into the best 

 possible condition for the plants are as diverse and various as 

 are the men growing the crop. There is no one method best 

 adapted to all conditions and soils. Emphasis, however, should be 

 laid on the importance of a well-prepared, thoroughly worked 

 soil which has been put into good tilth, so that the plants will 

 "take hold" as quickly as possible after setting. 



Preparation of plants for setting. No elaborate system of prepa- 

 ration is necessary. The plants should of course not be permitted 

 to wilt and dry out during the interval between digging and plant- 

 ing; dead runners should be removed, as well as some of the older 

 leaves and the roots "shortened in" about one-third their length. 



Setting the plants. There is no uniformity among growers as to 

 distance between rows and plants, the exact time or method of 

 setting, or the system used. Plants should not be crowded. 

 Distance depends partly on the habit of the variety and partly 

 on the system of growing, whether it be the matted row, the hill, 

 or a modified form of either. The matted row system which is in 

 most common use calls for a width of about four feet between rows, 

 and from eighteen to twenty-four inches between plants, while the 

 hill system requires less space each way. Both methods have 

 their advantages and disadvantages. All are agreed as to the 

 desirability of setting at the proper depth, neither too shallow nor 

 too deep, the crown of the plant being on a level with the surface 

 of the ground, and in New York spring setting is the rule. 



