TRANSPLANTING

Cloudy weather, or just before a rain, should be selected for this work if possible. If the weather be warm and dry, the setting should be done just before night.SFCC 6.3

The farmer should set the plants in rows about the distance apart that he plants his corn and potatoes. The plants in the rows should be from twelve to eighteen inches apart. He can then cultivate and hoe them as easily as he does his corn, or potatoes. The Strawberry is not a tender, garden plant. We often see it flourishing in the uncultivated field, or by the wayside.SFCC 7.1

If land be scarce, as in city cultivation, the plants may be set in rows from eighteen inches to two feet apart, and eighteen inches apart in the row. In this case the bed should be kept in hills, free from runners.SFCC 7.2

Some use a dibble, or sharpened stick, in transplanting, making a small hole, and crowding the roots together in a mass. Plants will many times live under this treatment if the season be good, but they never do as well. A garden trowel, or a hoe should always be used, as with this the hole can be formed so as to allow you to spread the roots, and leave them as nearly in the position they naturally grow as possible. Care should be taken to set the plants just so deep that the roots will all be covered, but no deeper; for if the crown be covered, it often decays. If the roots are too long to plant without doubling, or crumbling them up, their ends should be cut off. Indeed, some advocate cutting off the ends of the roots as beneficial to the growth and bearing capacity of the plant. The result is, that it causes more roots to be emitted near the crown, and a cluster of fibrous roots to issue from the cut ends.SFCC 7.3

It is not necessary to trim the roots of each plant separately, but a handful may be pruned at one cut of the knife. Plants thus clipped are more readily planted, and the roots are easily spread out at the time, which is quite important, because each root can produce rootlets without being entangled with others.SFCC 7.4

If the weather be dry, the plants should be shaded during the heat of the day by boards laid lengthwise of the rows, or by any other means convenient, and if possible watered every evening.SFCC 8.1