DM'YEE'S GUIDE. 



51 



apart between the rows and two feet apart in the rows, requiring about five 

 thousand five hundred plants to the acre. By planting in this wav you 

 can form a matted row about twenty-two inches in ^^^dth whicli will 

 give you ample room for the cultivator at all times; then for the finest 

 and largest fruit the plants in this matted row should be thinned out to 

 six inches apart. This is not as large or expensive a job as it seems at 

 first thought, and will repay for the trouble; this is the ideal system of 

 fruiting the Strawberry tor profitable results. 

 We get fully one-third more fruit this way 

 than in the hill system, which means to keep 

 all runners removed from the parentplant, thus 

 forming it into a large stool. When grown in 

 this way for field culture the plants should be 

 set three and one-half feet apart each way, 

 and they can then be cultivated both ways 

 from the beginnng to the end of the plantation. 

 The removing of these runers as they appear 

 is quite a troublesome and expensive work, 

 so that the expense of cultivation is about the 

 same with both systems. However, under the 

 hill system we are perhaps a little better forti- 

 Ri&HT WAY OF PL-^NTiNG, fied agaiust a severe drought, especially when 

 the plants are in bloom and during the fruiting period for the reason that 

 we can cultivate quite close to the plants and preserve the needed moist- 

 ure. Still this can be done quite as efhcaciously with the matted row 

 system as heretofore described. 



For Garden Culture. — Where the tillage is to be done entirely with 

 hand labor the plants can be set two and one-half feet apart between the 

 rows and one foot apart in the row. You can adopt either the matted 

 row or the hill system as you prefer for the home garden. 



Prepare a muddle composed of fine manure and water. Dip the roots 

 of the plants in it, and be sure that all the roots are moistened. Heel 

 them in the ground near where you are to 

 plant them, and if the sun is very warm cover 

 the leaves with hay, straw or sea grass. Avoid 

 planting on a windy day; ten minutes wind is 

 worse on the roots of plants than one hour's 

 sun. Only drop a few plants in advance of the 

 planter. Set the plant so that the crown 

 shows above the surface. The Strawberry 

 is divided into two classes — the perfect flower- 

 ing kinds, that can be fruited alone or with 

 others, and the imperfect or pistilate varie- 

 ties that require pollination by the perfect 

 or staminate class. There is no other objection to the imperfect plants; 

 many of our best strawberries belong to this class, and as a rule they are 

 the most perfect sorts. However, the flavor is rather inferior. You 

 can use the line or marker to plant by. Set the roots straight down. 

 Draw the soil around the plants with the hands, and so firm the soil 

 around them that the leaf of the plants will break in two before the plants 

 will allow themselves to leave their places. Should the ground be dry, 

 or the sun 'Very warm, use any mulching material at hand (that will ad- 

 mit of light and air) to shade the plants for a few days, or until you have 

 rain. 

 Watering. — We do not recommend watering, except inextreme drought 



t^'RONG WAV OF PLANTING, 



