STRAWBERRY SPECIALIST 13 
SPACING OF PLANTS 
Most growers allow far too many plants to set 
in the row. We believe that the largest crops of the 
finest berries can be grown in rows two and a half 
to three feet wide with plants spaced seven or eight 
or even nine inches apart. Any plants that set closer 
than this should be treated as weeds and should be 
cut out with the hoe when hoeing the plants. Have 
one end of the hoe very sharp for this purpose. In 
the matted row you will find the most and largest 
berries are at the side of the rows. That is because 
they have more moisture than plants in the middle 
of the rows. In the spaced rows they have all the 
moisture they need to make large fruit. In the 
spaced rows you have very little rot as they dry off 
better after rain. You also get larger berries in a 
dry season. We have a customer on the North Shore 
that set out 500 Howard 17 plants. He allowed each 
plant to make only eight runners spaced nine inches 
apart and he picked from the 500 plants 1300 quarts 
of berries. All the growers in that town are follow- 
ing this system now. Some growers may think this 
is too much work. Suppose you try spacing the 
plants in two or three rows and Sona with the 
rest of your bed. 
MASTODON EVERBEARING 
We have tried all of the everbearing varieties, 
and we consider the Mastodon and Gem to be the 
two best varieties. Mastodon makes a very large 
plant, and the berries are the largest of any of the 
everbearing varieties. Does best on a medium soil, 
neither too light or too heavy. Set the plants as early 
as you can prepare the land in good shape. Keep all 
blossoms picked off until July 4th. They should start 

