20 The Bulletix. 



berries are to be sent to markets nearer home, there is not so much 

 danger of overfeeding the plants. 



"I have found that newly cleared land that has been thoroughly 

 worked some three or four weeks before setting the plants is ideal, but 

 it is not at all essential to profitable berry growing. Old land, prefer- 

 ably a gray, mellow, moisture-retaining soil, underlaid with red or 

 yellow waxy clay 8 to 10 inches below the surface, will hardly fail to 

 produce a good crop under average normal conditions. I find that 

 where the subsoil is only 6 inches from the surface, subsoiling more 

 than pays for the labor expended. It is true that there are other lands 

 that will produce highly profitable crops of berries. Land, not subject 

 to overflow, on which corn grows well without showing a tendency to 

 'fire up/ can be depended on to make berries. I have found that land 

 with a whitish clay is not so good, but if the water level is not more 

 than l' 1 - to 3 feet below the surface it will produce fair yields. Craw- 

 fish land, in my experience, will show up well the first year, but the 

 second year the plants will amount to but little. 



'"After my crop of berries is off, I always cultivate deeply, and find 

 that by so doing my plants are greatly benefited. I continue to culti- 

 vate deeply and often until about the l.">th of September. At about 

 that time the nights begin to get cool, and the plants, if properly culti- 

 vated, begin to send (Hit hungry surface roots. I let these roots remain, 

 and never plow them off, because 1 find that if this is done the crop 

 is made to come late. To avoid working off these roots, I begin in 

 time and put in my fertilizer, (> bags of 8-4-10 to the acre, and thor- 

 oughly work it into the soil from 3 to 6 inches from the plants, being 

 careful to work the soil up close to the plants, hut without smothering 

 them. From then on I cultivate only to keep down the weeds, and 

 never deep, especially near the plants. I never grow runners unless I 

 specially need the plants for setting. 



"I find that my best results are obtained from plants set the latter 

 part of August. Spring is a good time to set the plants out, but they 

 do not make such large berries, and require more cultivation on account 

 of the weeds. The August-set plants, besides producing a crop in the 

 Spring, require only two or three months cultivation. 



"I use 400 pounds of raw bone meal worked into the bed two or 

 three weeks before setting the plants, and get excellent results. There 

 are other fertilizers probably just as good, but I find that this gives 

 the best results for me. Of course, the amounts of fertilizer used 

 throughout the season have to be varied according to the nature of the 

 soil. Usually from 1,000 to 1,400 pounds per acre for the entire season 

 is ample. 



"I always use the hill system of planting and put my plants about 

 14 to 16 inches apart. In this way I get better, cleaner, and larger 

 berries than I would in the matted rows. 



