35 



altogether after September 10. Before heavy freezing occurs the beds 

 should be mulched. At least, mulching is generally considered to be 

 necessary and on the whole seems to be worth while, though we have 

 seen excellent crops of berries grown on unmulched beds. Here again 

 a great deal would depend on the character of the soil, drainage, ex- 

 posure, etc. 



It should be distinctly understood that rapid rotations are essential 

 to the successful culture of the strawberry. The crude, old-fashioned 

 plan of setting strawberry beds and leaving them to themselves for 

 eight or ten years at a stretch is merely a waste of land. It is still 

 unfortunately customary in many parts of New England to leave 



Fig. 4. — Strawberry Field at Picking Time 



Strawberry beds for three or four years, with the idea of taking two 

 or three crops from one planting. The most successful growers, how- 

 ever, undertake to secure only one crop from any one plantation. 

 The plants are grown one year, are fruited the next, and the beds are 

 plowed up immediately after the berry harvest. This method not 

 only gives the best fruit, but proves to be the most profitable. 



Mulching. 



It is customary to protect strawberry plants through the winter 

 by covering them with mulch. This mulch is raked off the rows in 

 spring, as soon as the snow is off, allowing the plants to grow freely. 

 Some very conscientious growers rake the mulch entu'ely out of the 

 field. This is done so as to permit the running of cultivators between 

 the rows. Such spring tillage is unquestionably a good thing, though 



