19 
must be expended in preparing the ffround and in cultivating and Uoein>f the plants; 
the same amount of mulching will he required to cover them in winter. But the 
weak and cheap plants will not require one-half the number of quart boxes and 
crates to hold the fruit the only saving effected in using common grown plants is 
in boxes, crates and picking expenses. This, you will agree, is not the sort of 
saving that will please you, for it represents serious loss, perhaps complete failure. 
The Kind of Plants to Set. 
As we are to consider the several factors that enter into successful strawberry 
production, we shall begin with the most important— the kind of plants to set. The 
plants described in this book are scientificallv selected from ideal mother plants 
of known fruiting vigor. They are grown under the most favorable conditions. 
The soil is prepared one year in advance by growing some leguminous crop, which 
is turned under in the fall, when a cover crop is sown, which is covered with rich 
barnyard manure, the whole being plowed under and mixed with the soil the fol- 
lowing spring. This treatment fills the soil with humus, making it rich and 
spongy, and capable ot holding large quantities of moisture, it also fills the soil 
with the richest of plant foods. Thus the plants are kept in a highly vigorous con- 
dition, growing from the day they are set until dug, without interruption or back- 
set of any kind, and pro hieing a plant with a strong root system, with all its roots 
starting direct from the crown or body of the plant. The crowns of these plants 
are perfectly developed and stored full of vitality, which sustains the life and vigor 
of the plant until they take firm hold upon the soil in wdiich they are to fruit. 
Kefore setting plants it is best to prune the 
roots back about one-third. Cutting off the 
ends of the roots causes them to callous and 
they will send out numerous feeders and will 
make a much stronger root system than could 
be made if the roots were not pruned. And 
shortening the roots makes it easier to set the 
plants. In doing this pruning you simply take 
a pair of shears or a sharp knife and cut about 
two inches off the lower en<l of the roots. A 
full buch of twenty-five plants may be pruned 
at one cutting. 
Pruning Root*. 
Use a Patent Weeder. 
Another important result of proper cultivation of soil is in the loosening of it 
up in such a way as to leave small air spaces between the soil grains, the result of 
which is to furnish air to the bacterial germs so they may perform their work of 
transforming the raw materials in the soil into an available form as plant food. 
The more uniformly these microbe organisms perform their part of the work, the 
more vigorously will the plants grow. Before describing more definitely the way 
to cultivate we shall enumerate its several advanta.ges. 
1. It prevents the formation of crust on the surface of the soil. 
