54 Strawberry-Growing 



results secured in three representative experiments, in dif- 

 ferent parts of the country. In 1903-1904 the Tennes- 

 see Experiment Station conducted experiments at Knox- 

 ville "designed to show the effect of muriate of potash, 

 acid phosphate and cotton-seed meal, singly and in va- 

 rious combinations, upon strawberries." ^ The conclu- 

 sion was reached "This soil does not need fertilizer for 

 strawberries." The Missouri Experiment Station has 

 reported the results from fertilizers applied to a two year 

 old bed at Sarcoxie, Missouri, in March, 1911.^ These 

 experiments indicate a marked benefit from the appli- 

 cation of phosphoric acid, but a loss from the use of 

 fertilizers containing potash and nitrogen. In 1901 the 

 New York (Cornell) Experiment Station summarized the 

 results of fertilizer experiments with strawberries in 

 Oswego County.^ These showed "the superiority of 

 potassic and phosphatic fertilizers as compared with the 

 nitrogenous." 



The most profitable use of fertilizers depends not only 

 upon the type of soil, its native plant-food content, 

 physical condition and previous treatment, but, also, 

 on the variety, method of training, age of plants, distance 

 from market and methods of culture. Varieties like the 

 New York cannot stand a very rich soil ; the foliage be- 

 comes so rank that the fruit-stems and the berries mould. 

 Hill plants require heavier fertilizing than matted rows. 

 The older the plants, the more they respond to fertiliz- 

 ing. When strawberries are grown at a great distance 

 from the market, and firmness is most important, nitro- 

 gen must be applied sparingly, if at all. Under intensive 



1 Bui. Tenn. Exp. Sta., Vol. XVIII, No. 2, p. 13. 



» Bui. 113, Mo. Exp. Sta. (1913). 



8 Bui. 189, N. Y. (CorneU) Exp. Sta. (1901). 



