276 Success with Small Fruits. 



9. In cultivating strawberry plants recently set, stir the surface merely, 

 with a rake, not over half an inch deep. 



10. Never disturb roots by working deeply among them in dry 

 weather. At such times, stir the surface only, and often. 



11. If you water at all, water thoroughly, and keep the soil moist till 

 rain comes, otherwise watering is an injury. 



12. The easiest and cheapest way to keep a garden clean is 

 to rake the ground over once a week on sunny days. This method 

 destroys the weeds when they are just appearing, and maintains 

 moisture. 



13. Pick fruit, if possible, when it is dry, and before it is over-ripe. Do 

 not leave it in the sun or wind, but take it at once to coolness and shade. 

 Pack carefully and honestly. A quart of small, decayed, green or muddy 

 berries scattered through a crate of fine fruit may reduce its price 

 one-half. 



14. Mulch everything you can. Save all the leaves and litter that can 

 be gathered on the place, and apply it around the plants only when the 

 ground is moist. Dry ground covered with mulch may be kept dry all 

 summer. 



15. Practice summer pinching and pruning only when plants are in 

 their spring and early summer growth, and not after the wood begins to 

 ripen. If delayed till then, wait till the plant is dormant in the fall. 



1 6. Sandy or gravelly land can usually be worked immediately after 

 rain ; but if heavy land is plowed or cultivated when wet, or so dry as to 

 break up in lumps, it is injured. 



17. Watch all crops daily. Plants are living things, and need atten- 

 tion. Diseases, insects, drought or wet, may destroy them in a few days, 

 or even hours, if left uncared for. 



1 8. If you cultivate strawberries in the spring, do the work very early 

 as soon as the ground is dry enough to work. After the fruit buds 

 show themselves, stir the ground with a rake or hoe only, and never more 

 than an inch deep. I advocate early spring cultivation, art J then the 

 immediate application of the mulch. 



19. Just as the ground begins to freeze, in the fall or early winter, 

 cover strawberry plants with some light material that will prevent 

 alternate freezing and thawing during the winter. Never use heavy, 

 'Unfermented manure for this purpose. Leaves, straw, salt hay, light 

 stable manure, or any old litter from the garden, answers. 



20. In setting raspberry plants, or any fruit, never set in hard, 

 unprepared soil. Do not stick them in little shallow holes, nor in deep, 



