202 BOAKD OF AGRICULTURE. 



growing stTawberries, and I assure you from my personal knowledge, 1 

 think there is no State that can excel us for line berries. Indiana berries 

 usually bring twenty-five to fifty cents more per crate on the Chicago 

 market than berries from Illinois and other nearby States. Our soil is 

 fertile, our shipping facilities excelled l)y none. 



Soil.— Select the best piece of ground you have, with a southeastern 

 slope, if possible. If you want early berries, sand is the best, but for 

 the general crop I prefer a clay loam, as it stands the drought better 

 and will give more berries and of larger size. Don't be afraid of getting 

 your ground too rich, but commence one year in advance and give a good 

 coat of barnyard manure, and then plant to potatoes or sow to cow peas. 

 Then, as early in the spring as the soil will work well, plow eight inches 

 deep and pulverize thoroughly, as deep as possible, and drag or roll until 

 the soil is very compact and tine. If you can get wood ashes, I would 

 work in fifty to seventy-tive bushels per acre. Mark off your rows three 

 and one-half feet apart, and set your plants the same day the ground is 

 broken, and then put on a good, heavy roller and roll right over the 

 plants. 



Plants.— Always take your plants from a new bed that has never 

 fruited, and dig the rows clean, as plants taken from the sides of the 

 row are the late runners, and are usually weak and poorly rooted. Al- 

 ways shorten the roots in planting, so they can be put in the ground with- 

 out wadding. 



Distance.— Set plants eighteen to twenty-four inches apart in the row, 

 depending somewhat on the variety, as some varieties will make more 

 runners than others. 



Cultivation. — Start the cultivator at once after planting, and keep it 

 up once each week until frost, unless prevented by rain. Never allow a 

 crust to form, if it can be avoided. When the runners begin to come, 

 ti-ain them to fill up any vacancies, and place a little dirt on each one 

 when hoeing, to hold them in place until they become rooted. Do not 

 allow the plants to become matted in the row, but keep them four to five 

 inches apart. And when the rows become eighteen inches wide, keep 

 the balance of the runners out. 



Covering. — In the fall, soon as the ground is frozen solid enough to 

 hold up a wagon, put on four to five tons of straw per acre, so as to 

 protect the plants from the continued freezing and thawing in the latter 

 part of the winter. In the spring, part the straw from over the row 

 enough to let tlie plants through. This mulch, while it may make your 

 berries a few days later. Avill hold the moisture and give better berries 

 and more of them, and besides they will not be covered with dirt. 



Picking.— Strawberries should be picked every two days, and in the 

 height of the season pick every day, and l)e sure they are picked clean, 

 as a few soft berries in a crate may spoil the sale of the entire crate. 

 Leave one-half-inch stem on each berry, and keep the varieties separate 



