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soaked away, draw a little dry earth over the wet surface to 

 prevent its baking and to retain the moisture. 



In summer and fall planting there will be no trouble if we 

 can hit upon a showery time. But it is not always convenient 

 or possible to wait. If we are setting out plants from our own 

 place, it can readily be done, except in a severe drouth, by taking 

 them up with a ball of earth around the roots. Use a garden 

 trowel or spade, cutting down on four sides so that the soil will 

 not crumble away from the roots. With a hand barrow, or 

 some boards nailed across two poles, a couple of men can take up 

 a hundred or more at a time, and carry them without jarring to 

 the bed where, holes having been prepared before, they can be 

 put at once into their places. In this way I have set out large 

 beds in the heat and drouth of August, scarcely losing a plant, 

 and expect to set two acres next summer after taking off a crop 

 of early potatoes. Of course the plants so removed need one or 

 two liberal waterings and then dry earth drawn up around them 

 the next morning. It should be done in the cool of the after- 

 noon or upon a cloudy day. A few rows can be set out every 

 evening, preparing the ground just before, so that it may be 

 moist and fresh. 



The same result can be secured with even greater certainty 

 by another method. In most country homes there are small 

 flower-pots lying idle during the summer, or it will pay to buy a 

 hundred or more four inch pots. These can be sunk in the 

 earth so that the rims are just below the surface along the rows 

 from which new plants are desired, and the runners so guided 

 that they will take root in the pots. If this is done the middle 

 of July, by the first of August you will have strong plants that 

 can be set out in beds to fruit the next year and the pots used in 

 the same way again. From many growers potted plants can be 

 bought in August, and unless treated with utter neglect are sure 

 to grow. Plants set out by either of the above methods in sum- 

 mer or early in fall yield a fine crop of splendid berries the 

 season following. 



But ordered plants often come by mail or express in hot dry 



