46 Strawberry-Growing 



turned under for potatoes. After these are dug, crimson 

 clover, rye or hairy vetch is seeded as a cover-crop. 

 This is plowed under in winter or early spring for straw- 

 berries. Rye, heavily manured, is especially valued in 

 Massachusetts for preceding strawberries. If the land 

 is in urgent need of humus, cowpeas or soybeans may be 

 seeded on the clover farrow and plowed under in the fall ; 

 then the land is manured and set to strawberries the fol- 

 lowing spring ; or it is seeded to rye or crimson clover for 

 spring plowing. Another popular plan is to manure a 

 grass sod heavily, turn it for Indian com, and set straw- 

 berries the year following. It is best not to plant on any 

 kind of sod except, perhaps, a red clover sod, because of 

 the diflBculties with white grub, and undecayed vegeta- 

 tion. 



F. E. Beatty recommends the following treatment on 

 the sandy soils of Michigan. Seed rye in the fall and 

 top-dress it with fifteen tons of manure an acre during 

 the winter. Turn this in the spring for early potatoes, 

 using about five hundred pounds an acre of a 4-8-9 

 fertilizer. If the potatoes can be harvested by July 

 first, seed the land to cow^^eas; if delayed until August 

 first, seed Canada peas, since these are not hurt by early 

 frosts. If the peas mature early enough, turn them under 

 and seed rye again; if not, let them remain on the sur- 

 face and disk them under in early spring before the 

 strawberries are set. Hairy vetch is an excellent crop 

 to precede strawberries on sandy soils. W. W. Farns- 

 worth, of Ohio, recommends a three-year rotation, as 

 follows: "As soon as the strawberry crop is harvested, 

 plant Irish potatoes. After these are dug, seed rye. 

 Very early the following spring seed red clover on the 

 rye and harrow it in. Harvest the rye, plow under the 



