62 
STRAWBERRIES 
METHODS OF TRAINING. There are three methods of training 
strawberries: (1) The hill system, (2) the siiigle or double hedge row, and 
(3) -the matted row. 
The Hill Svstem '^^^ '^'^^ system is specially suited for producing 
^ large quantities of extra fine fruit on a small space. 
It' takes a little more work, but where the ground is limited or very valua- 
ble, as in the ease of truck gardens near cities, the hill system is the 
one to use. 
In the hill system the ground is usually laid off in regular beds. The 
beds are 4 feet wide, with a path between them about 1 foot 91 inches 
wide. The beds may be of any length desired. The plants are set 1 foot 
apart in each bed. This allows five rows of plants to each bed. This sys- 
tem requires about 33,795 plants to the acre, or 1,940 plants for a space 
25 feet wide by 100 feet long, and as a method of intense cultivation it 
has given some wonderful results. It requires heavy manuring, fertil- 
izing and cultivation. No runners are allowed to form, the runners being 
pinched off as soon as they appear. This gives very strong, heavy plants, 
and new plants grow up beside the mother plant, forming heavy crowns, 
or stools, which are enormously productive. 
The Single Hedge This method is adapted to commercial planting 
Unm QTro+t^-m '^^ iutensivc scale, and is used by truck gar- 
JX.OW oysxem deners where the land is very valuable. The 
rows are 2 to 3 feet apart, and the plants 20 to 30 inches apart in the row. 
Each plant is allowed to produce two runners. The other runners are 
pinched off as soon as they are formed. These two new runners are trained 
to grow in the row in line with the mother plant, one on either side. In 
this way each plant is 6 inches to 1 foot from its neighbor in the row. 
Large, strong plants are grown, and the berries are somewhat larger and 
better quality. The surplus runners must be cut. Strict attention must 
be given to this during the growing season, which makes the system 
rather expensive. 
Double Hedge The double hedge row is the same principle as the 
•p Sv«;tpm single hedge row, except the mother plant is allowed 
xlOW oybiein form either four or six runner plants instead of 
two. These new runner plants are tramed to form three parallel lines, one 
being the line of the mother plant, which is the same as the single hedge 
row, and then one row of new plants on each side of the original row. 
The two new lines are 7 to 9 inches distant from the original row, in the' 
middle. This gives a larger number of plants and berries than the single 
hedge row system. Plants are usually set in rows 30 inches to 3 feet 
apart. About one-half of the ground is given to the three parallel lines. 
There is an open space of about 1 }4 feet between each double hedge 
row, which can be cultivated with a horse cultivator. 
Matted Row "^^'^ most generally used system throughout the 
United States in commercial beds and in home gardens, 
and it is especially popular where large acreages are planted to straw- 
berries and where labor is scarce. The expenses are less per acre. The 
rows are generally 4 feet apart, with the plants 2 feet apart, which takes 
5,445 plants to the acre. Prolific plant-makers, like the Senator Dunlap, 
should be set 12 to 18 inches farther apart, and moderate plant-makers 
should be set 6 to 12 inches closer. The blooms are pinched off, and the 
mother plants are allowed to make as many new runners as they will 
form. The cultivators are always run in the same direction, so the run- 
ners, as they push out the middle of the row, are turned back into the 
row by the cultivator teeth and all the new plants are made to grow in 
a strip 12 to 15 inches wide. Some growers set the rows 3 to 3 J feet 
apart, but the greater distance makes it easier to keep "the middle" open 
to cultivate and keep the weeds down. 
