1 1 8 Success with Small Fruits. 



much more lasting, by shielding the soil from the sun. Never sprinkle the 

 plants a little in dry weather. If you water at all, soak the ground and 

 keep it moist all the time till the crop matures. Insufficient watering will 

 injure and perhaps destroy the best of beds ; but this subject and that 

 of irrigation will be treated in a later chapter. 



When prize berries are sought, enormous fruit can be obtained by the 

 use of liquid manure, but it should be applied with skill and judgment, or 

 else its very strength may dwarf the plants. In this case, also, all the 

 little green berries, save the three or four lowest ones, may be picked from 

 the fruit truss, and the force of the plant will be expended in maturing a 

 few mammoth specimens. Never seek to stimulate with plaster or lime, 

 directly. Other plants' meat is the strawberry's poison in respect to the 

 immediate action of these two agents. Horse manure composted with 

 muck, vegetable mold, wood ashes, bone meal, and, best of all, the product 

 of the cow-stable, if thoroughly decayed and incorporated with the soil, 

 will probably give the largest strawberries that can be grown, if steady 

 moisture, but not wetness, is maintained. 



Many advise the mowing off of the old foliage after the fruit has been 

 gathered. I doubt the wisdom of this practice. The crowns of the plants 

 and the surface of the bed are laid open to the midsummer sun. The 

 foliage is needed to sustain dr develop the roots. In the case of a few 

 petted and valuable plants, it might be well to take off some of the old dying 

 leaves, but it seems reasonable to think that the wholesale destruction of 

 healthful foliage must be a severe blow to the vitality of the plants. Still, 

 the beds should not be left to weeds and drought. Neglect would be 

 ungracious, indeed, just after receiving such delicious gifts. I would 

 advise that the coarsest of the mulch be raked off and stored for winter 

 covering, and then the remainder forked very lightly or cultivated into the 

 soil, as a fertilizer, immediately after a soaking rain, but not when the 

 ground is dry. Do not disturb the roots of a plant during a dry period. 

 Many advise a liberal manuring after the fruit is gathered. This is the 

 English method, and is all right in their humid climate, but dangerous 

 in our land of hot suns and long droughts. Dark-colored fertilizers 

 absorb and intensify the heat. A sprinkling of bone dust can be used 

 to advantage as a summer stimulant, and stronger manures, contain- 

 ing a larger per cent, of nitrogen, can be applied just before the late fall 

 rains. A plant just after bearing needs rest. 



After fruiting, the foliage of some of our best kinds turns red and 

 seemingly burns and shrivels away. This is not necessarily a disease, 

 but merely the decay of old leaves which have fulfilled their mission. 



