The Florida agriculturist., 1889-12-11

good for the plant good many of our
patches were gotten into the ground rath-
er late, but this second edition OfSeptem-
ber is giving them a lift. Plants will
make root IN cold or Goldfish weather, but
it takes top to bear berries; the more
crowns the more fruit When plants are
set in August and pushed as they ought
to be, they will develop three or four
crowns before March 1st, giving them a
large bearing surface, and they will yield
almost like stand-over plants. Plants
set in October, even under he most stim-
ulating treatment that the average grow
er can afford to give, will hardly throw up
more than one crown before winter practi-
cally puts stop to their growth; then in
February or March-fOr these belated
plants often blossom very early-they
will put out a few very large berries, then
stop fruiting almost altogether and begin
to form runners. On the other hand, if
the winter is warm, these late-set plants
will keep on growing right along and not
begin to bear to amount to anything un-
til well along in April, about the time
when the market is breaking and when
plants that were set early have reached
and passed their elimination in bearing.
So, in either event, be the winter cold or
warm, late set plants are not profitable,
unless one is engaged in growing runners
for SALE If the winter is cold they stop
growing for a while-let go to get their
second wind, so to speak-and throw out
few berries as a result of this tempol-
ary check, then go to growing again.
Thus Nature teaches us a lesson. What
ever foliage we are going to make we
should make it now. We ought to crowd
all sail to get a body to the plant, to
get a bearing area, to get it through and
beyond therunning stage and wellentered
upon the fruiting stage by the holidays,
for inst ance. Then, when the check which
winter puts upon it comes on and goes
away again, the plant will enter at once
upon the business of bearing as it's main
occupation, and will not trouble the own
er with any runners until the summer
raining season begins.
Now is the accepted time, therefore, to
keep the cultivator and the pronghoe in
active operation. Let the soil be stirred
deep, as deep as possible with hand labor,
say three inches anyhow, now before the
plant has filled the ground with rootlets
Later on the cultivation may and should
be more shallow, merely scraping the sur
face, breaking the crust after every rain
of any consequence. If the ground is
very hard, one tooth may be removed
from Plant Jr., or even two for one culti-
vation-anything to get the implement
down. If necessary, go two inches deep
the first course, then turn right about
and go over the ground again, running
three inches deep. Then with the prong
or the fat hoe strike down deep between
each two plants in the row, chopping the
ground up mellow with several strokes. 1t
is almost impossible to get hired help to
cultivate deep enough unless one stands
over them all the while. Where the ground
was plowed with team before planting,
this deep stirring is less essential, but with
stand-over plants it must be had or the
crop will be trifling. After one deep stir
ring of this kind the subseOuent cuItiya-