228 Strawberry-Growing 



Where planting is done in August, September and 

 October, as in Florida and the Gulf states, it is impossible 

 to get northern plants early enough for setting. Northern 

 plants are secured in February or March and set out two 

 by four feet apart; by September the runners can be 

 used for setting the fruiting bed. In southern California, 

 growers prefer to set plants that are not more than one 

 generation removed from the East or North. If they con- 

 tinue to propagate from their own plants, which bear 

 almost continuously throughout the year, the stock soon 

 loses vigor. 



Value of runners taken from the fruiting bed. 



The easiest way to secure plants is to dig them from the 

 fruiting bed, preferably before it bears. Runners taken 

 from a bed that has fruited once or more, and has not 

 been carefully renewed each year, lack vigor. For spring 

 planting, dig runners in the fall and heel them in over 

 winter ; if dug in the spring, the roots of the plants that are 

 left to bear are disturbed and the yield reduced. The 

 later in the spring the plants are dug, the more it injures 

 the fruiting bed. The main objection is that the grower 

 is tempted to dig the smaller and weaker plants and leave 

 the best ones to bear fruit. In the South there is some 

 danger that self-sown seedlings may be seciu-ed in this way. 

 If any considerable number of plants are needed, it is far 

 better to grow them in a propagating bed, separated from 

 the fruiting bed, and to keep the blossoms cut off so as to 

 promote early development of runners. 



Ratio of runner increase in different varieHes. 



The niunber of runners that can be secured from each 

 plant depends on the variety, soil, climate and culture. 



