APRIL: SECOND WEEK 91 



Get away from the idea that the bedding plants must be 

 placed by themselves somewhere on the front lawn. It, 

 as well as the perennial border, may be fitted into the gen- 

 eral scheme of decoration. There is a big variety of bedding 

 and annual plants to select from, and one can risk experi- 

 ments with the aimuals that might be inadvisable with 

 perennials. 



Starting the Strawberry Bed 



The earher you can get in your new strawberry bed the 

 better. But nothing is to be gained by rushing the job 

 so you do not have time properly to prepare the soil. It 

 can hardly be made too rich, though fresh manure should 

 be avoided. The best place, if such a plot is available, is 

 where other heaAdly manured vegetables have been grown 

 for a year or two; sod ground is inadvisable, as it is more 

 Hkely to be infested with white grubs — the larvae of the 

 common June bug. 



The home strawberry bed is not very large, and as the 

 product from it is a very profitable one, at store prices, you 

 can well afford to be generous in your appHcation of manure 

 and fertilizer. Whether you get your plants locally or order 

 them from a distance, make every effort to have the ground 

 ready for them by the time they are received. If by any 

 chance you have to keep them waiting, loosen the bundles — 

 but don't lose the tags — and heel them in a shadow trench 

 in a shady place, moistening the soil first. 



Either the hiU or the narrow or hedgerow system may be 

 used to advantage in the home garden. The former will 

 produce the finer specimens of fruit, but the runners must be 

 kept cut off without fail, so frequently the hedgerow sys- 

 tem will prove more satisfactory. 



In hills the plants may be set a foot to eighteen inches 

 apart, in single rows two feet apart; or in narrow beds of 

 three or four rows each. In the row system they are set a 

 foot or eighteen inches apart in rows two to three feet 

 apart. In this system three or four of the first runners from 

 each plant are allowed to root, but are turned along the 



