they have made a good growth of white roots. When wanted for planting they 
should be well watered the night before. They can then be carried to the field 
with some soil adhering. If they bloom in the temporary bed the blossoms should 
be nipped off. 
Methods of Culture. 
There are three popular methods of growing strawberries, — the matted row, the 
nedge row and hill culture. By the first the runners are allowed to grow without 
restriction; by the second each plant is permitted to set a limited number of new 
ones, and beyond these the runners are kept cut; by the third the runners are cut 
from the beginning, and never allowed to grow more than a few inches in length. 
The first costs the least work, and as a rule yields the most quarts of berries to a 
given space, but they are not the largest. The second involves more labor and pro- 
duces larger fruit, but not quite as much to the acre. The third requires the most 
attention and gives the finest berries in return. 
DISTANCES IN PLANTING. 
Distances in planting vary according to the method of cultivation adopted, and 
the nature of the varieties used. As a general rule the rows may be three and one- 
half feet apart. For the matted row, ordinary kinds may be set two feet apart, or a 
little more, in the row, and fast runners like Sen. Dunlap, four. If the plants are 
to be grown in hedge rows or by hill culture, a foot and a half is about right. 
SIZE OF PLANTS. 
Some varieties make very large plants, others medium, and still others small. 
Comparing Uncle Jim and Warfield, the plants of the latter might seem to an inex- 
perienced buyer so small as to be worthless, but they are small by nature, not culls. 
They are tough and hardy, and will make many runners and bear large crops, 
NUMBER OF PLANTS TO THE ACRE. 
The number of plants required for an acre, set at any given distances, may be 
easily computed. One acre contains 43,660 square feet, and this number divided by 
the number of square feet occupied by one plant vsdll give the number of plants to 
the acre. For instance: If the plants are to be set three and one-half by two feet, 
multiply these numbers together and the product is seven, the number of square 
feet required for each plant. Seven is contained in forty-three six times with a 
small remainder, hence, a few more than 6,000 plants will be needed. Again: Sup- 
pose the plan is three and one-half by one and one-half ; multiply seven halves by 
three halves and the result is five and one fourth, which is contained in forty-three 
about eight times. Therefore the required number of plants is 8,000. 
PERFECT AND IMPERFECT BLOSSOMS. 
\ strawberry plants are divided into two general classes called perfect and iruperfect, 
or staminate and pistillate. The perfect or st-iminate varieties have stamens, produce 
pollen, and fertilize not only their own blooms but those of the other class. The 
imperfect or pistillate sorts, as a rule, have no stamens and produce no pollen, hence 
their blooms must be fertilized by stauiinates. However, as a matter of fact, 
many of the so-called imperfect varieties have a few stamens and are able to pollen- 
ize themselves to some extent, but not sufficiently to produce a full crop. In planting 
imperfect or pistillate kinds every third, fourth, or fifth row should be set with some 
perfect or staminate variety. In our catalog we mark the perfect sorts P., and the 
imperfect I. 
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