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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. Sometimes 
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 excellent condition for many 
days in the family refrigerator 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 for a while is 
in cold storage at 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 cover- 
ing 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. Even moderate delays in transit won't 
hurt them at that time and they will keep per- 
fectly in cold storage at 32 degrees F, until plant- 
ing conditions are just right. 
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 
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 uncertain. 
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 ft. you 
would need about 20 plants. 
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, dibble, paddle, a big spoon or in 
larger fields a horse 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.) 
HOEING, CULTIVATING AND TRAINING. Fre- 
quent hoeing and cultivating 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 cultivation is best— 
1 to 1 '/a 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 hoe- 
ing any of the plants' buds which have become 
covered with packed or caked dirt must be uncov- 
ered. Neglect in this is often the greatest single 
cause of a poor stand. The outside leaves may 
remain iresh 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 ber- 
ries is needed by the newly set plant to make a 
strong, vigorous plant growth. Blossoms may be 
left on plants of Everbearing varieties after July 20th. 
(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. Any excess is no better than weeds. 
Train the first strong, new runners out like spokes 
from a whesl and root them until a fruiting row IV2 
to 2V2 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. 
PLANTS FOR VARIOUS PLANTING DISTANCE 
Rows In the row Total per acre 
3 ft. apart 18 inches 9,680 plants 
3 ft. " 24 " 7,260 " 
31/2 ft. " 18 " 8,297 " 
3V2 ft. " 24 " 6,223 " 
4 ft. " 18 " 7,260 " 
4 ft. " 24 " 5,445 " 
3 ft. 8 in. " 20 " 7,128 " 
TOO SHALLOW JUST RIGHT TOO DEEP 
IS MULCHING NECESSARY? Mulching is necessary 
for winter protection in all the Northern States and 
would be helpful in many fields as far South as 
Virginia and Kentucky, In addition to giving protec- 
tion from ccld, mulching helps to keep down weeds 
and grass, to conserve soil moisture and to keep the 
fruit bright and clean. 
The mulch should be applied in the fall after frost 
and light freezes (25 to 28 degrees F) have occurred but 
before hard freezing (20 degrees F or lower). It should 
be removed (at least partly) soon after growth starts 
in the spring. 
Wheat straw and marsh grass are considered the 
best materials. Rye straw, pine needles, coarse strawy 
manure and various kinds of hay are satisfactory. Use 
whatever you have or can buy at a reasonable price. 
WILL IRRIGATION PAY? If you have irrigaUon, it 
will certainly pay to use it for strawberries, especially 
just before fruiting time. However, irrigation is not 
necessary. Most of the fine berry crops in this country 
are produced on good strawberry soil that holds mois- 
ture well because stable manure and green crops have 
been added. 
DO STRAWBERRIES NEED SPRAYING? When good 
varieties are selected and clean healthy plants are 
used, strawberries do not need spraying as a rule. If 
insect or disease troubles should appear, our FREE 
circular on STRAWBERRY INSECTS AND DISEASES may 
be helpful in identifying the cause and applying the 
remedy. 
