MARKING AND PLANTING 21 
ator in planting does not touch it. Many 
times, however, the operator varies the line 
by pushing the trowel or spade against it 
until the planted rows bow out when the 
line is released. 
On small beds, where the plants are set 
one foot apart, a small hand marker, some- 
what similar to the large marker previously 
described, can be used quite successfully, 
providing the operator has something like 
the garden line to go by. If this bed is to be 
check rowed, the same tool can be used, 
or if the planter has a sure eye for distances 
the plants can be set without cross marking. 
One of the most common methods of 
marking out a bed is that of ploughing fur- 
rows four to six inches deep where the rows 
of strawberries are to be, the plants being 
set on the land side of the furrow. 
Some of the objections to this method are: 
1. Inability to make straight rows. 
2. Breaks up the level bed, making it 
rough. 
3. Not an intensive method. 
4. Labour of filling in furrow. 
5. Plants liable to dry out. 
6. Hard to place plants at the best depth. 
