OF ONE ACRE. 
41 
may be stored in the crowns to furnish the shoots for 
the next season’s cutting. As soon as the tops begin 
to yellow, and the berries to ripen in the fall, it should 
be mowed off close to the ground and the tops burnt, 
taking care that all the seeds are consumed; if left 
on the plants all winter the seed becomes scattered, 
and, owing to its capacity for sending up shoots, it is 
a very difficult weed to exterminate. If you do not 
wish the labor of sowing the seed and tending the 
young plants, a year can be gained by purchasing the 
plants. The one-year old plants are preferable unless 
the older ones have been transplanted each year, as 
they are gross feeders, and become stunted if allowed 
to crowd each other while young. To produce the 
large, fat shoots, it is necessary that the seed shall have 
been saved from the strongest shoots obtainable, and 
the plants fed constantly. The best way is to cover 
the crowns, after the ground is frozen in the fall, with 
as much manure as can be spared, and work it down 
to the roots in the spring as soon as it can be forked 
in; or, if there are several rows, the manure could be 
placed on them thickly and the soil ridged over it fox 
the winter by throwing up a couple of shallow fun- 
rows with the plow ; this to be worked down with a 
sharp harrow in the spring. As soon as it is dry 
enough in the spring, the soil and manure of the bed 
should be lightly forked over with a manure fork 
and the surface raked fine; the reason for using the 
stable fork is that the tines are slightly curved, and 
if the handle is held in a nearly horizontal position 
the bed can be dug down to the roots, and the fork 
will slide right over the tops of the crowns without 
