WHAT CARE DO PLANTS NEED? They should 

 be set promptly on arrival if possible. Dip the 

 roots in water and keep them protected when 

 taken to the garden or field for setting. A hot day 

 is bad for setting strawberry plants. A hot windy 

 day is terrible. A cool cloudy day is fine. Some- 

 times plants must be kept a while because the 

 ground is not ready or for some other reason. 

 Small lots of plants can be kept in the family re- 

 frigerator if there is room. Burying the crate or 

 package for a while in a snowbank is O.K. 



The very best way to hold plants is in cold 

 storage at 28 to 32 Degrees F. If such storage is 

 not available, open the bundles and spread the 

 plants in thin layers along a V-shaped trench 

 about four or five inches deep. Cover the roots 

 with two or three inches of soil leaving the buds 

 exposed. Wet the soil and plants thoroughly. A 

 light covering may be necessary. 



Incidentally, there is one way to play safe. If 

 you have cold storage available order your plants 

 shipped in March while they are still thoroughly 

 dormant. Moderate delays in transit won't hurt 

 them at that time and they will keep perfectly in 

 cold storage at 28 to 32 Degrees F. until planting 

 conditions are just right. If plants are dug after 

 they have made lots of foliage and possibly blos- 

 soms, they should not be held more than a few 

 days even in storage. 



U. S. Government and New York State experi- 

 ments as well as much practical experience have 

 shown clearly that anyone who cannot normally 

 set plants by April 15th could confidently expect 

 much better results with stored dormant plants 

 than with freshly dug ones. 



WHAT IS THE BEST METHOD OF SETTING 

 PLANTS? Any method is good which leaves the 

 roots reasonably straight down in the soil, spread 

 some if possible with the soil pressed firmly 

 against the roots and the bud just at the surface 

 of the packed down soil. A good garden trowel 

 is the best tool for the work in small plots. Others 

 are a spade, dribble, paddle or in larger fields a 

 horse or tractor-drawn transplanter. With plants 

 that have very long roots- clipping them off to 

 about 4 to 5 inches in length will make it easier 

 to get a good job of setting. It will not hurt the 

 plants. No matter how long or how short the leaf 

 stems, fruit stems or roots may be at time of set- 

 ting, the bud must be just at the surface. (See 

 picture.) 



HOW FAR APART SHOULD PLANTS BE SET? 



In general we recommend setting plants 18 to 20 

 inches apart in rows 3^/2 to 4 feet apart. This re- 

 quires about 7,000 plants per acre. (See Table.) 

 Somewhat closer planting is satisfactory in small 

 gardens where space is limited, for the hill sys- 

 tem as with everbearers, or for late setting where 

 a good stand is uncertain. Closer setting is sug- 

 gested also for varieties that make few plants. 

 With the new virus free stock of vigorous grow- 

 ing varieties somewhat wider setting will usually 

 give a satisfactory fruiting row. 



For the small garden order 7 plants for each 10 

 feet of row you want to set or figure 1 plant for 

 each 5 square feet. Thus for a plot 10 x 10 you 

 would need about 20 plants. 



High yields can be had from small plots by 

 using the hill system where all runners are cut 

 off. Use planting plan suggested for everbearers 

 on page 30. 



There are many variations of the hill system. 

 One of the most practical looking is to use a dou- 

 ble hill row with plants 12 inches apart in the 

 row and 30 inches between each double hill row. 

 This plan makes possible economies in cultivation 

 and runner cutting. All hill system plans require 

 extra plants. 



HOEING. CULTIVATING AND TRAINING. Fre- 

 quent hoeing and cultivating make larger, strong- 

 er fruiting beds and a better crop of berries. The 

 purpose is to keep down weeds and grass and to 

 keep the top soil loose. Loose top soil helps con- 

 serve soil moisture and makes it easier for new 

 runners to take root. Shallow cultivation is best, 

 1 to I Vi inches deep with the hoe or slightly deep- 

 er with horse cultivator. 



(1) Uncover the buds. At the first or second hoe- 

 ing any of the plant buds which have become 

 covered with packed or caked dirt must be un- 

 covered. Neglect in this is often the greatest single 

 cause of a poor stand. The outside leaves may 

 remain fresh and green for some time but if the 

 bud is smothered the whole plant will eventually 

 die. 



(2) Cut off the blossoms at each hoeing. The 

 vitality necessary to mature a cluster or two of 

 berries is needed by the newly set plant to make 

 a strong, vigorous plant growth. For exceptions 

 see page 31. 



(3) Most of the training of new runners is done 

 at hoeing time. A well spaced matted row is the 

 best system for getting the largest crops of the 

 best berries. It will not pay to be too fussy about 

 exact spacing distances but it should be kept in 

 mind that 4 to 8 plants per square foot of fruiting 

 bed is plenty. An excess is no better than weeds. 

 Train the first strong new runners out like spokes 

 from a wheel and root them cntil a fruiting row 

 1 V2 to 2 V2 feet wide has been formed. When that 

 has been done as many as possible of the later 

 runners should be pulled or cut off. 



WEED KILLERS. Crag Herbicide No. 1 (SES) is 

 the most promising material to date for control of 

 sum.mer weeds and grass in strawberries. Apply 

 just after cultivation. It prevents germination of 

 weed seeds — does not kill established weeds. 

 Apply rate of 2-3 lbs. per acre in 40 gallons of 

 water. Cover soil surface. Each application will 

 check weed growth for 3-5 weeks. No injury to 

 plants unless very hot weather. To control winter 



26 



