448 MANUAL OF GARDENING 
further to reduce the number of plants, and after layering from three 
to four plants between those originally set, to remove all others. 
Strawberries are often set in August or September, but this is advis- 
able only for small patches or when the soil is in the best possible condi- 
tion and the highest culture is given. For garden culture, it may pay 
to secure potted plants (Fig. 290). These are sold by many nursery- 
men, and they may be obtained by plunging pots beneath the runners 
as soon as the fruiting season is passed. In August, the plant should 
fill the pot (which should be 3-inch or 4-inch) and the plant is ready 
for setting in the plantation. Such plants should bear a good crop 
the following spring. 
During the first season strawberries should be frequently worked, 
rather deep at first, but as the weather be- 
comes warm and the roots fill the ground, 
tillage should be restricted to a depth of not 
more than 2 inches. The weeds should never 
be allowed to get a start, and if the season 
is dry, cultivation should be so frequent 
that the surface soil should at all times be 
loose and open, forming a dust mulch to con- 
serve the moisture. If the fall is moist and 
the plantation free from weeds, there will 
be little occasion for cultivation after the first 
of September, until just before the ground 
freezes up, when a thorough cultivation should be given. In addition 
to the horse cultivation, the hoe should be used whenever necessary to 
loosen the soil about the plants an to destroy weeds that may start 
in the row. 
After the ground has frozen, it will be advisable to mulch the plants 
by covering the space between the rows with some waste material to 
the depth of about 2 inches. Directly over the plants a covering of 
linch will generally suffice. The material used should be free from 
the seeds of grass and weeds, and should be such as will remain upon 
the beds without blowing off and that will not pack down too closely 
upon the plants. Marsh hay makesan ideal mulch, but where it can- 
not be secured, straw will answer. Corn fodder makes a clean but 
rather coarse mulch, and where they can be held in place by some other 
290. A potted strawberry 
plant. 
