64 
EVERBEARING STRAWBERRIES 
as the surface of the ground is almost completely covered with gravel or 
chips of flint rock, which keeps the fruit clean and forms a natural mulch 
that holds the moisture in the soil. 
The material used for making a mulch is that which is the easiest and 
cheapest for you to get, will not pack too close to the plants, and will keep 
the berries clean. It should be as free from weed seed as possible; timothy 
is especially bad in strawberry beds. Straw, prairie grass, or slough 
grass are used where available; coarse straw manure is sometimes used, 
but often contains too many weed seeds. Forest leaves that will not 
pack down tight are also used. 
Corn stalks that have been run through a shredder make a good 
mulch; pine needles are used extensively in the South. When none of 
these materials can be had cheaply, a good mulch can be grown by sowing 
a small patch of corn, sorghum, or Kaffir corn very thickly, so it will 
grow fine, small stems. A small area, properly cut and cured, will make 
a mulch for a large strawberry field. 
In the North and in the Northwest, where they have drying winds, 
the mulch is applied about 4 inches thick, and in some places 6 inches 
thick. The mulch should not be so thick that the plants can not grow 
through, or they will grow beneath the mulch and will be white and weak. 
Wherever the plants have trouble getting through, the mulch should be 
raked off early in the spring. 
Number of Plants Required to Set One Acre 
1x1 foot 43,560 2x3 feet 7,260 
1x1 foot 6 inches 29 , 040 2x2 feet 6 inches 8,712 
1x2 feet 21,780 2x3 feet 6 inches 6,223 
1x3 feet 14 , 520 2x4 feet 5 , 445 
1x4 feet 10 , 890 3x3 feet 4 , 840 
2x2 feet 10,890 3x4 feet 3,630 
To determine the number of plants per acre for any given distance, 
multiply the distance between the plants in the row by the distance the 
rows are apart. Take the resulting answer and divide 43,560 by it. The 
resulting figures will give you the number of plants per acre. 
For example: To determine the number of plants, planted 2 feet by 4 
feet, required to set 1 acre: 2x4=8; 43,560-^8=5,445. 
Everbearing Strawberries 
The Everbearing strawberry has "made good" in commercial and home garden 
planting in widely varying parts of the country. 
Plants set out in the spring will bear the same summer, and, with sufficient rain 
or artificial watering, will produce a good crop in the fall and continue to bear until 
heavy frosts come. The second year they produce a heavy crop in the spring, continue 
to bear tlvroughout the summer if conditions are favorable, and give another heavy 
crop after the fall rains. 
The plants are hardy, vigorous, and productive, and the foliage is unusually 
healthy. They succeed on all kinds of soil, can be planted on more fertile soil and in 
low land where frost threatens the only crop of ordinary, or "standard" varieties. 
All strawberries require moistiu'e and fertility to produce the best berries. Tills Is 
especially true of the Everbearers, because of their proUflc and continuous bearing 
habits. 
After planting in the spring, the blossoms should be pinched off until about the 
fh'st of July. 
The best growing method with Everbearers is the Hill or Stool .System, described 
on page 62. Set the plants 1 to 1 K feet apart in rows 3 to 4 feet wide. For the 
home garden, set in beds 4 to 5 feet wide, with plants a foot apart. Be sure to cut off 
aU runners. 
Everbearers shoidd never be planted In the "Matted Row" or "Hedge Row 
System. 
To insure success, Everbearers must have greater fertility and more moisture 
than ordinary, or "standard" varieties. In the winter, give them a light dressing 
of well-rotted manure, which should be worlced in by cultivation in the spring. 
