96 MODERN STRAWBERRY GROWING 
used in this ploughed strip. This will mix 
the soil and manure and should level off the 
freshly ploughed strip between the rows. At 
this time, or just before cultivating, it is a 
good practice to go through the patch with a 
hoe and cut out the old plants. If it is not 
possible to tell the difference between old 
and young plants, the rows of plants can be 
cut so that six or eight inches of soil with 
three or four plants growing in it are left in 
the row, then a cleared strip of six or eight 
inches, then another collection of three or 
four plants, and so on. 
If the soil throughout the bed is made 
level, the remaining plants will soon send out 
runners and at the joints new plants will form. 
Very soon an entirely new bed will be ob- 
tained, and where cultivation and care are 
given the results will be quite satisfactory. 
The second method which is started at the 
same time as the first — that is, after fruiting 
—consists of ploughing only on one side of 
the matted row. Generally two furrows are 
necessary, but in very wide rows three or 
four may have to be given. 
By this method the original plants, some- 
times called the mother plants, are ploughed 
