CULTIVATION. 33 



cultivation after planting, except watering and occa- 

 sional pulling of weeds which appear through the tan, 

 and neither of these ordinarily requires much time or 

 labor. They must be kept clean and in good order, 

 but we are very careful not to allow the hoe to be used 

 nearer than eight inches to any full-grown plant, and, 

 consequently, it is seldom or never used about the 

 beds after the first month's planting. The reason is, 

 the numerous fibrous roots so interlace and fill the 

 ground for a space of six or eight inches around the 

 plant, coming so completely to the surface, that the use 

 of the hoe will cut off great numbers of those little 

 roots, and we are unwilling to have our plants maimed 

 in this way. It certainly greatly injures their bearing. 

 The fork or spade should be kept at the same distance, 

 for the same reason. The only time during the year 

 we loosen the soil in our beds with the fork, is imme- 

 diately at the close of the season of bearing, selecting 

 the time when the ground is moist. And yet, we re- 

 peat, the strawberries must be kept clean; and the 

 reader may here see a reason for all the minute and par- 

 ticular description we have given in the preparation. 

 It needs to be thoroughly done, because it cannot well 

 be remedied afterwards. The plants will not admit of 

 freely working among them, except with the hand, if 

 not kept at an unusual distance from each other, with 

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