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Page 42
We will suppose the work has been done in the spring, as early as
the earth was dry enough to crumble freely, and that the surface
of the bed is smooth, mellow, and ready for the plants. Stretch a
garden line down the length of the plot two feet from the outer
edge, and set the plants along the line one foot apart from each
other. Let the roots be spread out, not buried in a mat, the earth
pressed FIRMLY against them, and the crown of the plant be exactly
even with the surface of the soil, which should also be pressed
closely around it with the fingers. This may seem minute detail,
yet much dismal experience proves it to be essential. I have
employed scores of men, and the great majority at first would
either bury the crowns out of sight, or else leave part of the
roots exposed, and the remainder so loose in the soil that a sharp
gale would blow the plants away. There is no one so economical of
time as the hired man whose time is paid for. He is ever bent on
saving a minute or half-minute in this kind of work. On one
occasion I had to reset a good part of an acre on which my men had
saved time in planting. If I had asked them to save the plants in
the year of '86, they might have "struck."
The first row having been set out, I advise that the line be moved
forward three feet. This would make the rows three feet apart--not
too far in ground prepared as described, and in view of the
subsequent method of cultivation. The bed may therefore be filled
up in this ratio, the plants one foot apart in the row, and the
rows three feet apart. The next point in my system, for the kind
of soil named (for light, sandy soils another plan will be
indicated), is to regard each plant as an individual that is to be
developed to the utmost. Of course only young plants of the
previous season's growth should be used. If a plant has old,
woody, black roots, throw it away. Plants set out in April will
begin to blossom in May. These buds and blossoms should be picked
off ruthlessly as soon as they appear. Never does avarice
overreach itself more completely than when plants are permitted to
bear the same season in which they are set out. The young, half-
established plant is drained of its vitality in producing a little
imperfect fruit; yet this is permitted even by farmers who would
hold up their hands at the idea of harnessing a colt to a plow.
The plants do not know anything about our purpose in regard to
them. They merely seek to follow the law of Nature to propagate
themselves, first by seeds which, strictly speaking, are the
fruit, and then by runners. These slender, tendril-like growths
begin to appear early in summer, and if left unchecked will mat
the ground about the parent with young plants by late autumn. If
we wish plants, let them grow by all means; but if fruit is our
object, why should we let them grow? "Because nearly every one
seems to do it," would be, perhaps, the most rational answer. This
is a mistake, for many are beginning to take just the opposite
course even when growing strawberries by the acre.
Let us fix our attention on a single plant. It has a certain
amount of root pasturage and space in which to grow. Since it is
not permitted to produce an indefinite number of young plants, it
begins to develop itself. The soil is rich, the roots are busy,
and there must be an outlet. The original plant cannot form
others, and therefore begins to produce fruit-crowns for the
coming year. All the sap, all the increasing power of root and
foliage, are directed to preparation for fruit. In brief, we have
got the plant in traces; it is pulling in the direction we wish,
it will eventually deliver a load of berries which would surprise
those who trust simply to Nature unguided.
Some one may object that this is a troublesome and expensive way
of growing strawberries. Do not the facts in the case prove the
reverse? A plant restricted to a single root can be hoed and
worked around like a hill of corn or a currant-bush. With
comparatively little trouble the ground between the rows can be
kept clean and mellow. Under the common system, which allows the
runners to interlace and mat the ground, you soon have an almost
endless amount of hand-weeding to do, and even this fails if white
clover, sorrel, and certain grasses once get a start. The system I
advocate forbids neglect; the runners must be clipped off as fast
as they appear, and they continue to grow from June till frost;
but the actual labor of the year is reduced to a minimum. A little
boy or girl could keep a large bed clipped by the occasional use
of a shears or knife before breakfast; and if the ground between
the plants is free of runners, it can be hoed over in an hour.
Considering, therefore, merely the trouble and expense, the
single-plant system has the facts in its favor. But our object is
not to grow strawberry plants with the least trouble, but to have
strawberries of the largest and finest quality.
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