96 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



can work up a trade on a certain variety, stick to that. For 

 shipping distances try some of the firmer berries, for the home 

 market some of the finer quaHty, perhaps softer berries. The 

 summer care of a strawberry bed after the plants are set is 

 very simple — thorough cultivation in order to keep the soil 

 well stirred up on top and give that dust mulch which retains 

 the soil moisture so splendidly. 



Fertilizing with us is done after the plants are set. When 

 I plough the land the first time, if it is old land, I generally 

 manure very heavily at the time of ploughing, and if that land 

 has been fertilized with manure in the fall, that manure is well 

 mixed with the soil so when it is ploughed in the "spring prior 

 to setting the plants it turns up in good shape and is where the 

 plants can take it. I don't use any commercial fertilizer at all. 

 I simply use chemicals, mixed or straight as the occasion may 

 be, always applied to the plants as they are growing. We use 

 a great de^l of basic slag, dissolved bone black and sulphate of 

 potash. Our soils do not require any of the very strong ma- 

 terials like nitrate of soda, but we use some tankage. Any of 

 those chemicals applied very lightly in frequent doses will grow 

 a better plant than to put the fertilizer on all at once. It is 

 better to apply these fertilizers during a rain than when the 

 plants are dry. I believe in frequent cultivation and fertilizers 

 in small doses rather than a large dose of a chemical or mixed 

 fertilizer at the time of setting. I have seen many beds hurt 

 at the time of setting by putting plants in soil that has been 

 heavily manured or fertilized. There is too much manure at 

 that time and during a dry season the plants are apt to dry out 

 before they get well rooted. If a great deal of fertilizer has 

 been used, the small white roots of the plant are simply burned 

 by it, or injured in some way. 



In regard to the plant itself, you can take plants from your 

 own grounds and set them the same day that they are dug. 

 On plants that are shipped to you or that you buy from a dis- 

 tance, the roots should be cut very severely. As a rule in ship- 

 ping, plants are more or less dried out, and the tips of the long 

 roots are apt to be a little hard, so in setting they are liable to 

 be doubled up, therefore the shortening of the root at least one- 

 half, and the top in proportion, is very essential, particularly 

 if the season is dry. The plant will take hold of the land a 



