FRUIT CULTURE— XIV. 



THE STRAWBERRY. 



HE earliest and possibly the most 

 wholesome of all fruit, who would 

 not grow strawberries ? And yet 

 <^'^ many a farm home is without a 

 supply of this fine fruit ; and many others, 

 owing- to a lack of knowledge or a want of 

 thought on the farmer's part, get samples 

 that are but caricatures of this noble berry 

 at its best. Like the other small fruits the 

 strawberry imperatively demands a rich, 

 well-drained and moist soil. Unlike the 

 raspberry, it is a comparatively shallow 

 feeder, and this fact must guide us to some 

 extent in manuring and in tillage. Thorough 

 preparation of the soil before planting will 

 especially pay in the case of the strawberry. 

 The ground should be thoroughly worked, 

 and if underdrained or if subsoiled so much 

 the better, as such soil will be drier in a wet 

 season and moister in a dry season. As no 

 fruit is looked for the first season, but only 

 a good strong lot of plants, well-rotted barn- 

 yard manure is the most profitable as it is 

 the most convenient of fertilizers. In the 

 second year, when fruit is the object, the 

 case is different. The berries take practi- 

 cally no nitrogen out of the soil, and as this 



element is the important one in barnyard 

 manure it is obvious that such manure could 

 be better employed elsewhere. We have 

 an ideal fertilizer for the berries in unleached 

 wood ashes, which contain in well-balanced 

 proportions the two elements required by the 

 fruit — potash and phosphoric acid. This 

 may be applied broadcast over the patch in 

 the late fall or on light soils very early in the 

 spring. Anywhere from 50 to 100 bushels 

 to the acre may be profitably used, and, for 

 preference, the larger amount. Spring 

 planting is usually found best. Put out 

 young, vigorous plants as early as possible 

 so that they may get thoroughly established 

 before dry weather comes. From three to 

 four feet between the rows and eighteen 

 inches in the row will be a suitable distance. 

 In a large patch the rows may be marked 

 with the corn-marker and the holes made by 

 striking a spade in the ground and moving 

 it backwards and forwards. A boy can fol- 

 low and spread the roots of the plant fan- 

 shaped in the cleft. Whatever method of 

 planting is followed the important things are 

 that the earth should be well firmed round 

 the roots and the plant set the right depth. 



