CHAPTER XVII 

 SMALL FRUITS 



The berry garden is just the place 

 Where summer lends peculiar grace. 

 What possibilities may lie 

 In things drawn from its rich supply! 



*IRST, let us talk about strawberries. 

 April is the best month in the North 

 to set the plants. Select almost any 

 kind of good, well-drained land on 

 which some hoed crop was grown last 

 season. The soil should be deeply 

 plowed, enriched with manure and fer- 

 tilizers and harrowed until fine and 

 mellow. Dig or buy plants from beds 

 set last season which have not yet 

 fruited, so as not to get "little potato'*' 

 runners from old, worn-out plants. Select well- 

 tested varieties that do well in your climate and soil, 

 and which are liked in your local markets. For horse 

 cultivation many growers set the plants in rows 

 about four feet apart, and about eighteen inches apart 

 in the row (7,260 plants to the acre). Spread the 

 roots out well and deep ; tread the soil firmly about 

 each plant ; see that the crown of plant is level with 

 ground, and uncovered but not too high ; pick off 

 all blossoms, runners, old and dead leaves, and keep 

 blossoms and fruit off during the first season. When 

 setting plants, avoid drying the roots by exposure 

 to sun or wind, and reject all small, feeble, or old 

 plants with dark-looking roots. Read Chapter III 



