132 THE FARM. 



berry plant should be knoAra, and this will enable each one to decide for 

 himself. The plants that are sent out by nurserymen are those that were 

 formed last year by the runners from old plants taking root in the soil of the 



bed. If these are taken up in the usual way and planted in a new bed it 



may be after the lapse of several days— they require a whole season to get 

 established and become sufficiently strong to bear a crop. If these plants 

 are set this spring, they will ' lear a crop next spring; if such plants are set 

 next autumn, they will require all of next season to grow in, and while they 

 may produce here and there a few berries, they will give no real crop until 

 the following year. Growers of fruit for market set a share of their plants in 

 the fall, because then they have leisure and the ground is in excellent con- 

 dition. If the plants are made to strike root in pots, these in early autumn 

 may be planted in beds without any distiirbance of their roots, and will give 

 a fair crop next spring. Siich plants are more expensive than others, and if 

 a crop of fruit is wanted next spring, it is better to set out the plants now. 

 Making the rows two feet apart, and setting the plants one foot apart in the 

 row, as a general rule is best. 



With regard to protecting strawberry plants, if some light material can bo 

 put over the plants that will not smother and rot them, and yet will be just 

 enough to make shade from the winter sun and a screen from frosty winds, 

 it will be doing a good turn to the strawberry plant. Manure is bad. There 

 is salt in it, especially when fresh, which is destructive to foliage; but clean 

 straw, or swamp, or marsh hay that is free from weeds, answers the purpose 

 very well. But it must not be put on very thick. The idea is, just enough 

 to make a thin screen, and yet enough to hold the moisture long. Shade 

 without damp is the idea. Such light protection is good for the plant. 



Covering strawben-ies. — The strawberry endures cold well, writes a 

 successful small finiit grower, but not the great sudden changes of tempera- 

 ture, and cold, drying winds. If the situation is such that the plants are not 

 exposed to the winds, and the stools are large and thick with foliage, this 

 foliage will be a sufficient protection; doubtful, however, should the snow bo 

 very deep and close packed, and lie long, or ice form on the surface of the 

 ground, locking it for a long time. It is worse still if the frost extends deep 

 into the ground. Under such circumstances the smothering influence may 

 either kill the plant or seriously injure it. The plants without covering are 

 safe where the winter is mild and the soil has perfect drainage. But the safe 

 thing is to cover the plants. For perfect protection I find nothing so good as 

 hemlock brush, or straw kept in place by a hemlock boiigh, with the con- 

 cave side under, thus preventing the fatal pressure of the snow. I put on 

 the covering at the beginning of winter, and keep it on until spring frosts are 

 over. The plant will then come oiit fresh, strong and unharmed, and imme- 

 diately push its growth. 



This answers for a small i)lot of ground. For field culture, light stable 

 manure with three or four parts of sawdust, or other fine vegetable absorb- 

 ent, to one of manure, succeeds well as a covering, but shovild bo iised only 

 where the soil requires the fertility, as too high manuring produces foliage 

 rather than fruit. 



Vegetable material worked into the soil is one of the best elements in the 

 strawberry culture, as also in the culture of other berries. It loosens clay 

 and improves the cliaracter of sandy soil, seeming also to form the right 

 paliulum for the fruit. I also got the best crops and the finest berries in this 

 way. Two weeka ago I gave tlio plants a sprinkling of licjuid manure 



