_To Cultivate the Strawberry_.--For family use, we recommend planting
in beds four feet wide, with an alley two feet wide between. These beds
will accommodate three rows of plants, which may stand fifteen inches
apart each way, and the outside row nine inches from the alley. These
beds can be kept clean, and the fruit can be gathered from them without
setting the feet upon them.
_Culture in Hills_.--This is the best mode that can be adopted for the
garden. If you desire fine, large, high-flavored fruit, pinch off the
runners as fast as they appear, repeating the operation as often as may
be necessary during the summer. Every runner thus removed produces a new
crown at the center of the plant, and in the fall the plants will have
formed large bushes or stools, on which the finest strawberries may be
expected the following season. In the meantime, the ground among the
plants should be kept clear of weeds, and frequently stirred with a hoe
or fork.
_Covering in Winter_.--Where the winters are severe, with little snow
for protection, a slight covering of leaves or litter, or the branches
of evergreens, will be of great service. This covering should not be
placed over the plants till after the ground is frozen, usually from the
middle of November till the first of December in this locality. Fatal
errors are often made by putting on _too much_ and _too early_. Care
must also be taken to remove the covering in spring just as soon as the
plants begin to grow.
_Mulching to Keep the Fruit Clean_.--Before the fruit begins to ripen,
mulch the ground among the plants with short hay or straw, or grass
mowings from the lawn, or anything of that sort. This will not only keep
the fruit clean, but will prevent the ground from drying and baking, and
thus lengthen the fruiting season. Tan-bark can also be used as a mulch.
A bed managed in this way will give two full crops, and should then be
spaded or plowed down, a new one having been in the meantime prepared to
take its place.