THE STRAWBERRY GARDEN. 175 



and the two new ones find a mellow, warm soil to root in. 

 The advantage of free horse culture more than offsets the 

 extra labor of pinning down the new plants. As for 

 removing the other runners, that would have to be done in 

 any case." 



Kate and Johnny felt sure that they now understood the 

 matter, and were prepared to practise it on their own 

 account. They stood for a while watching the two women 

 deftly setting the expected plants, and then passed on over 

 the hill ito where further operations were being carried on. 

 Coming to a place where a man was at work, they were sur- 

 prised to find him planting turnips, right in the middle of 

 the paths cut through the strawberry beds. The plants in 

 these beds had just produced their second crop, and were 

 thickly matted together; the great broad leaves covering 

 all the space between the plants, and even encroaching on 

 the wide path. 



"There," said Mr. Barker, " is a number of beds that 

 have produced fruit twice, and are too much exhausted to be 

 worth further culture. I now have the centre of each path 

 planted with turnips, or some other crop, and when the time 

 comes to cultivate it, I put in a light plough, and turn the 

 strawberry plants and all right under. The plants decay, 

 and by fall the ground is ploughed over, and all is smooth 

 and clear, and ready for next spring's crop, whatever it may 

 be. I can again plant strawberries, sow it down to grass, or 

 plant root crops. To set it again with strawberries would be 



