Strawberries. 307 



better stand of plants is always secured from the use of home-grown stock 

 when lifted and immediately reset, while in trying seasons tlie difference is very 

 considerable, even amounting to as much as success or failure in the stand. 

 Then, too, home-grown plants can be lifted with a ball of earth by means of a 

 transplanting device and reset without a sliock during extremely adverse weather 

 conditions. Small home-grown plants are in most cases more to be relied upon 

 than large plants shipped from a distance. In regions along the South Atlantic 

 <"oast, wliere the fruit matures early, the immediate removal of the mulch and 

 preparation of the soil for the roots of the new plants will afford time to secure 

 plants for fall setting, and by special attention to the matter it is possible to 

 have the new plants ready for use in June. 



FIELD CULTURE. 



Field practices in the cultivation of strawberries vary in different sections 

 of the country to conform to climatic and soil conditions. Tlie factor most 

 influenced by conditions of soil and climate is the time of setting. In some 

 sections the rainfall will permit of either spring or autumn planting, while in 

 other equally good strawberry-producing regions, plants can only be successfully 

 set during the fall. The demands of the market also influence the date of field 

 planting. ^ 



SELECTION OF SOIL. 



The soil considered best suited to the cultivation of the strawberry in tlie 

 northeastern part of the United States is what is known as a sandy or gravelly 

 loam. A warm, quick soli, although naturally poor, is to be preferred to a 

 lieavy, retentive soil well supplied with plant food. The lacking plant food can 

 easily be supplied by the addition of fertilizers, while the physical character- 

 istics of the soil can only be modified with great difficulty by cultivation, drainage, 

 and the addition of organic matter. Congenial soil and exposure are, therefore, 

 important considerations. The plants not only thrive better on light soils, but 

 the crop is more abundant and the berries are larger and sweeter. The period 

 of maturity can also be modified within reasonable limits by selecting soils 

 which force or retard ripening, by securing southern or eastern exposures, which 

 give the plants the advantage of the first warm days of spring, or by placing 

 them on northern and western slopes where, by the use of heavy mulches, the 

 time of ripening may be delayed as much as ten days ; and by the use of late- 

 ripening sorts this time can be extended even longer. This is of more importance 

 at the North than are extra early maturing sorts, because it puts the crop more 

 completely out of competition with tlie southern product. 



PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. 



The land to be devoted to the growing of strawberries should, if possible, 

 be planted in a cultivated crop, sucli as potatoes, beans or corn, at least one 

 year previous to setting the plants, in order that the larvae of such insects as 

 wireworms, white grubs, cutworms, etc., may be as completely eliminated as 

 possible. Sod land is a favorite breeding ground for such insects, and should 

 therefore be avoided unless it be new clover sod, wliicli can be turned under 

 with good results. 



Previous to setting the plants the soil should be deeply plowed in order 

 that all organic matter of wliatever nature on tlie surface may be completely 

 turned under. Immediately following tlie plow the land should be thoroughly 

 pulverized by the use of the liarrow, and the surface should be reduced to a 

 condition which would form an ideal seed bed. 



FERTILIZERS. 



If the soil is not rich, for best results it sliould have a dressing of at least 

 twenty cartloads of well-decomposed stable manure per acre, either plowed under 



