Berries and Small Fruits 229 



METHODS OF GROWING 



I describe the three systems most valuable for the 

 home garden: (i) the hill, (2) the matted row, and 

 (3) the pot-layered, (i) In the hill system the 

 plants are put in single rows, or in beds of three or 

 four rows, the plants one foot apart and the rows, 

 or beds, two or three feet apart. In either case each 

 plant is kept separate, and all runners are pinched 

 off as fast as they form, the idea being to throw! 

 all the strength into one strong crown. (2) In the 

 matted row system the plants are set in single rows, 

 and the runners set in the bed at five or six inches 

 each side of the plants, and then trained lengthways 

 of the row, this making it a foot or so wide. The 

 runners used to make these secondary crowns must 

 be the first ones sent out by the plants ; they should 

 be severed from the parent plants as soon as well 

 rooted. All other runners must be taken off as they 

 form. To keep the beds for a good second crop, 

 where the space between the rows has been kept 

 cultivated and clean, cut out the old plants as soon 

 as the first crop of berries is gathered, leaving the 

 new ones — layered the year before — about one foot 

 apart. (3) The pot-layering system, especially for 

 a small number of plants, I consider the best. It 

 will be seen that by the above systems the ground 

 is occupied three years, to get two crops, and the 



