Page:How and what to grow in a kitchen garden of one acre (IA howwhattogrowin00darl).pdf/47

 may be stored in the crowns to furnish the shoots for the next season’s cutting. As soon as the tops begin to yellow, and the berries to ripen in the fall, it should be mowed off close to the ground and the tops burnt, taking care that all the seeds are consumed; if left on the plants all winter the seed becomes scattered, and, owing to its capacity for sending up shoots, it is a very difficult weed to exterminate. If you do not wish the labor of sowing the seed and tending the young plants, a year can be gained by purchasing the plants. The one-year old plants are preferable unless the older ones have been transplanted each year, as they are gross feeders, and become stunted if allowed to crowd each other while young. To produce the large, fat shoots, it is necessary that the seed shall have been saved from the strongest shoots obtainable, and the plants fed constantly. The best way is to cover the crowns, after the ground is frozen in the fall, with as much manure as can be spared, and work it down. to the roots in the spring as soon as it can be forked in; or, if there are several rows, the manure could be placed on them thickly and the soil ridged over it for the winter by throwing up a couple of shallow fur rows with the plow; this to be worked down with a sharp harrow in the spring. As soon as it is dry enough in the spring, the soil and manure of the bed should be lightly forked over with a manure fork and the surface raked fine; the reason for using the stable fork is that the tines are slightly curved, and if the handle is held in a nearly horizontal position the bed can be dug down to the roots, and the fork will slide right over the tops of the crowns without