154 STATE BOARD OF AGIUCULTURE 



in the spring, and if neglected are likelj^ to balje so that the plants suffer more 

 from the lack of water than upon the lighter sands. 



In a general way, then, it will be seen that the heavier sandy loams and the 

 lighter clay loams are best adapted for this crop, although good results will be 

 obtained upon the lighter soils, if moisture can be provided. Fair returns are often 

 obtained upon a soil of a mucky nature, as the water is generally so near the surface 

 that droughts will have no effect, but two difficulties are frequently met with upon 

 this class of soils, the first being the danger of frosts while the plants are in 

 blossom, and the other that the plants make a rank growth and fail to form the 

 necessary fruit buds. Vi'here the mucky soil is in a basin, entirely or nearly sur- 

 rounded by higher land, the blossoms seldom escape the frost, but if so situated 

 that the cold air can drain off upon a lake, or still lower land, the danger will be 

 lessened. After the land has been cropped for a number of years, the danger of 

 the rank growth of phmts will be greatly reduced, and if they are kept in hills, 

 especially if a liberal amount of ground bone and ashes are used, a good crop of 

 fruit can generally be expected upon this kind of soil, and, as there will be but little 

 danger from drought, the fruit will be large and will bring the highest price. 



In the home garden it is frequently impossible to find soil adapted to the growing 

 of small fruits, and it will often pay. to go to considerable expense in improving the 

 physical condition of the soil. Where the soil is of a heavy nature, it will often 

 be possible to spread over the surface and mix with it an inch or more of sand 

 or sandy loam; good results will also be secui-ed by the use of fine coal ashes, either 

 from hard or soft coal, and a liberal dressing of partially decomposed stable manure 

 will also aid in loosening and lightening the soil. If the soil is of too light a nature 

 and it is not possible to add clay or heavy loam, the use of muck or wood ashes will 

 Slave a beneficial effect, the former supplying humus and the latter tending to 

 render the soil more compact. A soil improved in this way will be in good condi- 

 tion for other crops. 



To precede the strawberries, a heavy clover sod is desirable, as this can be turned 

 under and will not only provide a large amount of plant food, but it will so add 

 to the humus in the soil that there will be far less danger from drought. Cow-peas 

 will in most parts of the State make a fair growth, and where the ground is not 

 needed for other crops can be grown and turned under previous to planting the 

 strawberries. 



Sod land is not desirable, as it is generally deficient in humus and plant food and 

 frequently contains insect larvae, which may prove destructive to the plants. 

 Almost any of the hoed crops may be usd for one year previous to setting the 

 plants and will leave the land in good condition for the strawberries, especially 

 if it was heavily top-dressed with stable manure in the spring, or fall, previous to 

 planting. Few soils will give the best results without the use of manure or 

 fertilizer of some kind, and if tue manure can be applied to the land at least one 

 year before it is to be used for the strawberries it will decompose and will be in 

 a suitable condition to yield up this plant food. 



An application of fifteen to twenty loads of partially decomposed manure will 

 be sufficient for most soils, but where wood ashes can be readily secured their 

 use will be found profitable; fifty to one hundred bushels to the acre should be 

 applied, after the land has been plowed, and Avorked into the soil when dragging. 



For commercial plantations it will hardly be desirable to use chemical fertilizers, 

 as, with clover and other green crops and the addition of manure and wood ashes, 

 fertilizers will add but slightly to the yield, and the expense will not be returned 

 in the crops; for the private garden, however, if the manure cannot be readily ob- 

 tained, fertilizers may be used. A number of brands of fertilizers have been pre- 

 pared by the different manufacturers, especially for the small fruits, and a thousand 

 to fifteen hundred pounds per acre will give good results. For those who desire to 

 prepare their own mixtures, however, we recommend one hundred pounds of nitrate 

 of soda, eight hundred pounds of ground bone, and one hundred bushels of wood 

 ashes, or, if these cannot be obtained, four hundred pounds of potash salts, either 

 muriate or sulphate. 



Although fall planting will give fair results under intensive culture, the best 

 returns will ordinarily be secured from spring-set plants. 



Unless the land is unusually heavy so that there will be danger of its puddling 

 during the winter, it will be well to plow the land in the fall, and in the spring 

 thoroughly pulverize the surface. With deep soil the furrows may be turned to the 

 depth of seven or eio'htinches, but in a thin liji'htsoil, it will not be advisable to plow 

 more than one-half inch deeper than the previous plowing. If the plowing was 



