170 FRUIT CULTURE. 



jection is that the ground is choked with too 

 many plants, not allowing room for future devel- 

 opment. A common practice is to abandon this 

 matted mass and plough it under as soon as 

 the first crop is taken. If a permanent bed is 

 desired, it will be necessary to direct the run- 

 ners as they form, removing any superfluity, and 

 allowing plants to form only at intervals of 

 about a foot. 



In sections where snow does not lie continu- 

 ously during winter, it is essential to give a light 

 covering of evergreen boughs, leaves, sedge, or 

 light manure, being careful not to rot the plants 

 by too heavy dressing. This will be removed 

 after severe frosts are past. After the spring 

 cleaning of weeds and a very light stirring of 

 the surface, a mulch of straw or clean litter will 

 serve to keep down the weeds, to keep the ground 

 moist, and also to protect the fruit from dirt. 

 In order to keep a bed in good heart, special 

 fertilizers may be applied in the spring, before 

 the second and the third crop ; such as wood 

 ashes, superphosphate, or bone. But a matted 

 or weedy bed should be abandoned at once. 



The strawberry requires a great amount of 

 water in order to carry heavy crops to perfec- 

 tion. So important is this that the pump is said 

 to be the best fertilizer it can have. If means 



