6 
Bulletin 53. 
best for Colorado conditions. In regions where the rainfall is 
greater and where cloudless days are less common, planting in 
August is practiced successful!} 7 by many, but the practice is by no 
means universal, and most growers who plant large areas prefer to 
plant in the spring. 
Here there is often trouble in obtaining the desired number of 
well-rooted young plants early enough so that when transplanted 
they may become w r ell established before the end of the growing 
season. The prevailing bright suns during August are trying to 
newly set plants, they are liable to wilt and be severely checked, 
even when care is used to apply water frequently. Stronger plants 
are obtainable in the spring, the ground is then moist and the air 
cool, they are checked but little and make a strong growth from the 
beginning. 
If potted plants are used, the objection to August planting has 
not the same force, but the expense of potting is such that the 
practice is not to be commended, except possibly in a small way for 
the home garden. 
METHODS OF PLANTING. 
Two systems of planting strawberries are in use. The hill 
system, and the matted row system. In hill culture the rows may 
be two and one half or three feet apart, with plants twelve inches in 
the rows. No runners are allowed to form, the plants are kept 
distinct and are encouraged to make the strongest growth possible. 
The fruits produced are large, but the labor involved is considerable 
and the system is only suitable for small areas. The matted row 
system is in almost universal use for commercial plantations 
because the labor is less and the quantity of fruit greater. The 
plants are set from eighteen to twenty four inches apart in rows 
three and one half or four feet apart. To enable the plants to 
become well rooted, it is best to remove all runners until about the 
first of July, after which the runners may be allowed to root until a 
space eighteen inches wide is filled. The ideal matted row should 
have a width of eighteen inches with the plants distributed at about 
equal distance-;, five or six inches apart. 
Some varieties produce runners so freely that it may be neces¬ 
sary to thin them somewhat to obtain the best results. 
In transplanting, care should be taken that the roots do not 
become dry. It is a good plan to carry the plants in some vessel 
containing water and to distribute only as fast as they can be 
planted. In planting, a spade or dibble may be used. The roots 
should be spread out fan shaped and care taken to plant at the 
right depth. If planted too deep the crowns are liable to rot, and 
if not deep enough the roots will dry out, either being fatal to the 
plant. The earth should be well firmed about the roots and the 
surface left level. 
