Sex in Strawberries 235 



row on each side of the row of plants. Work the soil back 

 into the furrow with a one-horse cultivator or with a disc 

 from which the inner discs have been removed. Then go 

 over the field with a hoe and cut out the old plants, work 

 under the old foliage and leave the remaining plants stand- 

 ing about six inches apart. With such treatment as this 

 the field will be in fair condition to produce at least one 

 more profitable crop and possibly two crops. By the time 

 the field has been in strawberries long enough to produce 

 three or four crops of berries it will have exhausted the 

 fertility of the soil or it will have become so toxic to the 

 roots that the successful cultivation can not be continued 

 without putting the land into other crops for at least two 

 years. Should it be the intention of returning the same 

 field to strawberry production, these crops should be of 

 such kinds as will increase the fertility of the -land rather 

 than to produce a large immediate cash return. For this 

 reason crops of some legume, such as clover, cow peas, 

 vetch or crimson clover are the best, and the tops should 

 not be mowed but turned under to add to the humus sup- 

 ply. 



Another method is to plow a furrow down each side of 

 the row turning the soil into the middle and then work 

 it back with a spike tooth harrow with the teeth 

 thrown slightly back. This will drag out some of the 

 plants in the rows, pull out the old matted foliage and 

 bury most of the crowns of the plants. The object of this 

 is to encourage the plants to send out a new secondary 

 crown and a new lot of roots all above the old crown. As 

 soon as the new plants have begun to appear the field 

 should be worked over with a hoe and the plants thinned 

 out and culled, leaving only the most vigorous. This work 

 is or should be done immediately after the fruit crop has 

 been gathered, as the plants will then have the remainder 

 of the summer to build up new plants to produce the crop 

 of fruit for the next summer. 



Sex in Strawberries 



Many persons who are inexperienced in the growing of 

 strawberries find that when their first planting comes into 



