100 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL, SOCIETY 



Mr. Wyman Elliot: Is it protected on the west by a grove? 



Mr. Pearce: No grove at all; only a small elevation. It is 

 not high or rough, it is all nice land. 



Mr. Smith: Is there nothing on the north or west to break 

 the force of the wind, no trees or bushes? 



Mr. Pearce: No; there is nothing to break the wind, but the 

 wind does not get in there. 



Mr. Smith: There is no clay subsoil there? 



Mr. Pearce: Yes, there is a clay subsoil. The soil is a 

 sandy loam. 



Mr. Smith: Well, it is gravel? 



Mr. Pearce: No gravel about it at all. 



Pres. Underwood: That is the point we want to bring out 

 here. Of course, location has as much to do with success as 

 the culture of the strawberry itself. Perhaps we could not get 

 at the exact idea without making the question too long, but I 

 think those are points of the highest importance to take into 

 consideration, the soil and location; if we are going to plant a 

 strawberry bed, to tell the farmers just where to plant it. 

 They are just as apt to plant it in the wrong place as in the 

 right one. 



Mr. S. D. Richardson: My experience in growing straw- 

 berries for the last four or five years has been that an under- 

 drained slough, a black, heavy clay, from three to four feet 

 deep, is the place to grow strawberries and plenty of them. I 

 have very nice loam on either side of such a location, but it 

 does not compare with the underdrained slough of heavy clay. 



Mr. C. B. Crandall: I would always take a north slope for 

 strawberries, a sandy loam with clay subsoil. 



Mr. Smith: I heartilj' indorse what Mr. Crandall says about 

 a north slope. I would take a north or northeast slope every 

 time if I wanted to be successful. 



Mr. C. A. Sargent: My soil was stiff hard clay; that soil 

 always did best; it never failed yet. 



Mr. Busse: The best success I ever had was fifteen or 

 eighteen years ago on new soil. It was a clay subsoil. There 

 is something in the new soil in our neighborhood that is good 

 for strawberries. In a good many localities, if they can find a 

 suitable piece of ground, not too low, they will take a new soil 

 every time, and I do not believe any one will have much diffi- 

 culty in raising strawberries on such a soil. My ground is at 

 present not rich enough, but that is not what is wanted. There 

 is something in the new soil which we cannot put into the old. 

 The more manure we put on our old soils, the more clover we 

 will get in, and you will have more trouble than it is worth to 

 pull the clover out of your land. I find that new soil is always 

 the best to grow strawberries on. We never use it for any 

 thing but to raise strawberries. One thing we do want is 

 sufficient moisture in the fall of the year. A year ago this fall 

 there was no moisture in the soil, but this year those who have 

 strawberry beds find there is plenty of moisture in the ground, 

 and they will be almost sure to have a good crop next year. A 

 new soil, timber land or scrub oak, is the best soil to grow 

 strawberries. 



