“Yes, that will be all right.  The reason for pinching off the blossoms the first year is to save the strength of the young plant.  Otherwise it all goes to fruit forming.  It pays to do this, because the second year you will have a good yield.  Remember that strawberries which flourish in certain localities may fail utterly in others.  That is why you and I are experimenting with this new berry.  I am going to give you five plants of Marshall, five of Nick Ohmer, and five of Brandywine.  Remember, shorten back the roots three inches before you plant.  I shall be around to see your strawberry bed.  Remember to cultivate after every rain, and in between times, too.”

“Thank you, and good-bye,” said the boy.

Myron set his plants after the following fashion:  he dug trenches along the cord lines previously marked out.  Then the roots were shortened.  To plant, hold the plant against one side of the trench just as Myron did, as illustrated in one of the pictures.  Then push the earth in from the other side and press firmly in place.  The plants should sit so that their crowns are even with the top of the ground.  When Mr. Mills came to see that bed he found two or three plants badly placed.  Care must be taken in the placing.  The days after planting were very hot so Myron covered the plants with straw to protect them from the heat.

As the season advanced the little plants sent out runners.  These were immediately cut off.  If they had not been, they would have become entangled and thus formed what is called a matted row.  Some people cultivate strawberries this way.  But Myron’s way, the hill culture, while it means constant attention, is perhaps a better method.

One day, old Mr. Mills took Myron on a little trip with him to a farm where a man was cultivating berries by the matted row method and doing it in a very slovenly way.

“It taught me a lesson,” the boy told his mother that evening, “that lazy methods are pretty bad.”

Once or twice that season he sprinkled wood ashes on the ground of the bed.  Just a little should be sprinkled on, as one sprinkles salt on a potato.  Soil gives food to a plant.  This food is nitrogen in various forms, potash and phosphorus.  Sometimes we help the soil supply one or more of these chemicals.  The wood ash adds a little extra potash which is very good for the strawberry.

It turned out after a second year that the new variety gave very small and flavourless berries.  So the old gentleman and Myron wasted no more space on that variety.

The second year Myron obtained excellent results.  From some of his plants he got one quart of berries each, during the season.  That was good, but no better than a strawberry plant should do under good cultivation.

As far as his lettuce and radish went there was nothing new or startling in his experience.  He tried this little trick of lettuce sowing with some success:  Instead of sprinkling the seed in the drill, he placed each seed separately and four inches apart.  By this method one need not transplant to get good heads.  He tried the Black Tennis Ball seed.  This forms a good head.