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SMALL FRUIT CULTURE FOR MARKET. 



If the planting is not done until spring, 

 most soils suitable for small fruits will 

 be benefited by a deep fall plowing, 

 followed by a shallower cross-plowing 

 as early in spring as the land is work- 

 able, or by thorough and repeated 

 working with one of the numerous 

 forms of disk or spading harrows now 

 in use. 



This should be followed by a lighter 

 pulverizer or smoothing harrow before 

 the soil becomes lumpy. The roller 

 or plank clod crusher can sometimes 

 be used to advantage, but if the soil 

 be taken at the proper stage of dryness 

 the treatment noted above will rarely 

 fail to accomplish the desired result. 

 Too much attention can hardly be be- 

 stowed upon this matter of soil prepa- 

 ration, yet it is often slighted by small- 

 fruit planters. Errors in fertilizing, cul- 

 tivating, or pruning can sometimes be 

 corrected by subsequent good treatment, 

 but deficient preparation cannot be 

 overcome during the existence of the 

 crop. 



M.\NURINC;. 



Unless the soil is very rich from 

 previous fertilizing, the crop will be 

 largely increased by the application of 

 well-rotted stable manure, say 20 tons 

 to the acre, applied before the final 

 plowing or thoroughly worked into the 

 soil with a spading harrow. If stable 

 manure is not obtainable, finely ground 



Continued from page 6^!) 



bone and muriate of potash can be 

 profitably used on many soils. Nitrate 

 of soda can sometimes be applied in 

 moderation with profit. If the soil is 

 of a sandy nature and known to be 

 deficient in nitrogen, a preparatory crop 

 of crimson clover will doubtless be 

 advantageous in climates where this 

 plant succeeds, or other leguminous 

 crops may be grown and plowed in. 

 Hardwood ashes are excellent on most 

 soils and, in general, commercial fer- 

 tilizers rich in phosphoric acid and 

 potash may be profitably used. The 

 selection of the fertilizer that can be 

 most profitably used on any particular 

 soil must be determined by local experi- 

 ment, however, and upon the very field 

 in question, unless tests have been 

 made on similar soils in the immediate 

 neighborhood. 



It should be said that among growers 

 who ship their fruit long distances, 

 there is an increasing tendency to favor 

 commercial fertilizers rather than stable 

 manure, on the ground that the fruit 

 thus grown is firmer and of better car- 

 rying quality. This applies particularly 

 to fruit grown in the humid climate 

 of the South Atlantic and (lulf States, 

 where most fruit plants incline to make 

 a rank growth, which produces watery 

 fruit, and where rains during the ripen- 

 ing season are frequent. A consider- 

 able gam results also from the absence 

 of weed .seeds from prepared fertilizers, 

 40 



