EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS 153 



STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 



BY L. R. TAFT AND H. P. GLADDEN. 



Bulletin 163 — Horticultui^al Department. 



Letters are frequently received a.skin.<? for information regarding the planting 

 and care of strawberries, and believing that it will be of interest to many readers 

 of the Bulletins, the following brief notes upon strawberry culture have been pre- 

 pared. 



For two or three years the price of these, as well as of other small fruits, has 

 ruled quite low, but in cases where the berries were well grown, of large size and 

 nicely packed, remunerative prices could usually be secured, while the poor or 

 ordinary grades, in many cases hardly paid the cost of putting on the market. 



Many growers are in the habit of setting the plants and giving fair care the first 

 season, but the plants ai'e allowed to layer so as to form a solid row of plants two 

 or more feet wide. The result is that the plants are weak and the food and 

 moisture furnished are insufficient to develop the large number of berries that are 

 set. Although it is not generally practiced, many growers are in the habit of 

 allowing the beds to fruit for six or eight years, and, as they become grown up to 

 grass and weeds, poor fruit only can be expected. 



While the hill system of culture cannot be generally recommended for all growers 

 or for ;ill varieties, imder propei- conditions the results obtained will be hi0:ly 

 satisfactory, as the fruit will be of large size and will be produced in large 

 quantities, but, the amount that will be obtained by the average grower from 

 narrow matted rows will be larger from the same area than can be secured from 

 hill culture. 



We do not advocate commercial cultivation of strawberries except by those whose 

 location is adapted to it, and who have the necessary information as to the best 

 methods of handling the crops and the executive ability to grow and market them, 

 but there are few persons who cannot have an area devoted to this crop, sufficient 

 to svipply fruit for their own table, and it is for such persons that the information 

 here presented is particularly intended. 



THE SOIL, AND ITS PREPARATION. 



Whether or not it is for a market or home patch, the results secured will, in a 

 general way, be measured by the adaptation of the soil. As the strawberry con- 

 tains a large amount of water and ripens at a time when a drought may be ex- 

 pected, the location selected should, so far as possible, provide a soil that is at 

 least fairly retentive of moisture. Equal care should be taken that it is so 

 thoroughly drained, either naturally or artificially, that water will at no time stand 

 upon the surface and that in a very short time after a rain, the level of the standing 

 water will be at least two feet below the surface. It is commonly said that any 

 good corn soil will answer for strawberries, but, while this is true, on account of 

 the much greater value of the crop, more care should be taken that it is in a proper 

 physical condition and supplied with the needed amount of plant food. 



As a rule, the lighter sandy loams should be avoided, as the crop will be likely 

 to suffer from lack of water, while the stiff clays can seldom be properly worked 



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