io8 Success with Small Fruits. 



shingles or boards. A handful of weeds, grass, or even of dry earth, thrown 

 on the crown of the plant in the morning, and removed by five P. M., is 

 preferable to nothing. Anything is better than stolidly sticking a plant in 

 the ground and leaving it alone just long enough to die. Many, on the 

 other hand, kill their plants with kindness. They dose the young things 

 with guano, unfermented manure, and burn them up. Coolness, moisture 

 and shade are the conditions for a new start in life. 



As has been explained already, pot-grown plants, with a ball of earth 

 clinging to their roots, can be set out during the hot months with great 

 ease, and with little danger of loss. At the same time, let me distinctly say 

 that such plants require fair treatment. The ground should be " firmed " 

 around them just as strongly, and they should be so well watched as to- 

 guard against the slightest wilting from heat and drought. 



In ordinary field culture, let the rows be three feet apart, and let the 

 plants stand one foot from each other in the row. At this distance, 14,520 

 are required for an acre. When land is scarce, the rows can be two and a 

 half feet from each other. In garden culture, where the plow and cultiva- 

 tor will not be used, there should be two feet between the rows, and the 

 plants should be one foot apart as before With this rule in mind, any one 

 can readily tell how many plants he will need for a given area. 



