26 
conditions are just right. If plants are dug 
after they have made lots of foliage and 
possibly blossoms, they should not be held 
more than a few days even in storage. 
U. S. Government and New York State 
experiments have shown that anyone who 
cannot normally set plants by April 15th, 
could confidently expect much better re- 
sults with stored dormant plants than with 
freshly dug ones. 
WHAT IS THE BEST METHOD OF 
SETTING PLANTS? Any method is good 
TOO SHALLOW JUST RIGHT TOO DEEP 
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, dibble, paddle, a big 
spoon or in larger fields a horse or tractor 
drawn transplanter. With plants that have 
very long roots clipping them off to about 4 
or 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 setting, the bud must be just at 
the surface. (See picture.) 
HOW FAR APART SHOULD 
PLANTS BE SET? In general, we recom- 
mend setting plants 18 to 20 inches apart 
in rows 3J>2 4 feet apart. This requires 
about 7,000 plants per acre. (See table.) 
Somewhat closer planting is satisfactory in 
small gardens where space is limited, for 
the hill system as with everbearers, or for 
late setting where a good stand is uncer- 
tain. Closer setting is suggested also for 
varieties that make few plants. 
For the small garden order 7 plants for 
each 1 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 27. A variation would 
be using rows 3} 2 ^eet apart, set plants 12 
inches apart with two runner plants, one 
each way, from each mother plant set. 
Midland, with big strong plants and few 
runners, is excellent for hill system — small 
plots. 
HOEING, CULTIVATING AND 
TRAINING. Frequent hoeing and culti- 
vating make larger, stronger 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 cultiva- 
tion is best. 1 to 1 3/2 inches deep with the 
hoe or slightly deeper with horse cultivator. 
There are three other important jobs to 
be done along with the hoeing work. 
(1) Uncover the buds. At the first or 
second hoeing 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. 
(3) Most of the training of new runners j 
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 
until a fruiting row 1 3/2 to 2 feet wide has 
been formed. When that has been done as 
many as possible of the later runners should 
be pulled off or cut off. 
WEED KILLERS. We doubt if weed 
killers should be used on small garden 
plots. If carefully done, they are helpful in 
larger acreages. We have used 2, 4D with 
good results for summer grasses and 
weeds. There is always some injury to the 
plants with weed killers. Consult your 
County Agent or State Agricultural Col- 
lege for full information before using weed 
