258 TREATISE ON FRUIT TREES. 



after removing their old leaves & pruning their root tips, provided they've not recently 

 been lifted, the strawberry plants are planted using a peg or a trowel. The distance from 

 one plant to the next within a row should be equal to or a little less than the distance 

 between each row, taking care to arrange the plants in a zig-zag or in a checker pattern. 

 When a bed is fully planted, it's liberally watered, except during rainy weather, so that the 

 earth is tamped down & the roots make close contact with the soil. If the plants are very 

 robust, only one is planted at each spot. If they're weak or average, two of them are put in 

 together. 



This planting can be done in all seasons of the year, even during the intense heat 

 of the summer, as long as the plants are protected from the sun & from drought. The best 

 time is from mid-March until mid-April & even later. Some plant wild strawberry plants 

 only in September. But since this plant is unable to strengthen & put out suckers during 

 the winter & up until the following spring, the first harvest of its fruit can't be as 

 substantial as if it had been planted as early as April or May. 



IV. Strawberry plants planted in the spring are expected just to propagate their 

 offshoots, to develop their strength, & to prepare to yield abundant fruit the following 

 year. Keeping this in mind, they're tended during the first year, taking care to weed, hoe, 

 and water them & to cut off upright shoots if some appear. Toward the end of spring, 

 when the main flow of their sap has subsided & their growth is more restrained, all of the 

 runners that they've produced must be cut off. Or if one wishes to recover plants from it, 

 or to replace some plants that have died, just keep the strongest ones & pinch them off at 

 the second offshoot. If this procedure is performed earlier, the same thing could happen 

 to the strawberry plant as happens to a vigorous tree that has all its suckers cut off when 

 it's full of sap. It will put out still more, 



