The Planting of Strawberries 



Any good garden soil will grow 

 good strawberries, but the selection of 

 varieties is of the greatest importance, 

 and a chance selection is more than like- 

 ly to end in failure. The soil best suited 

 for the strawberry, that is, the soil that 

 will grow successfully the largest num- 

 l>er of varieties, is a deep, rich sandy 

 loam. A light sand or heavy clay may, 

 with very little expense, be brought into 

 a condition that will produce abundant 

 crops. Some varieties thrive best in a 

 soil in which clay predominates, while 

 others do best in a light, rich, sandy 

 soil- A deep soil, whether it be natur- 

 ally light or heavy, is one of the requi- 

 sites demanded by the strawberry. If 

 the soil is naturally wet, it will require 

 under-draining. 



The preparation of the soil is of the 

 utmost importance. In digging, care 

 should be taken to go to the full depth of 

 the spade or fork, throwing the soil 

 ahead six or eight inches. See that it 

 is thoroughly pulverized, and every 

 lump broken up, as the roots of a plant 

 cannot penetrate a hard lump of soil. The 

 better the soil is broken up, the better 

 the chance for the root. Then, also, if 

 Ihe soil is lumpy it cannot retain mois- 

 ture , and the plants suffer, whereas if 

 the soil has been thoroughly broken up 

 it will remain moist even through a 

 very considerable drought. 



PKBPAEATION 0¥ TffE BEDS 

 In preparing my beds, I dig them 

 twice. Thf- manure is dug in the first 

 time and in the second digging I make 

 sure that there are no lumps of either 

 manure or .soil, and endeavour to more 

 thoroughly incorporate the manure with 

 the soil than is possible with one dig- 

 t;ing. The second digging is not labor 

 lost ; it is, in my mind, absolutely neces- 

 sary if the best results are expected. 



The manure should be well rotted. If 

 not, great difhculty will lae experienced 

 in keeping down weeds and grass, and, 

 " esides this, the straw in fresh or half- 

 jtted manure, when dug or plowed in, 

 one of the greatest causes of failure, 

 does not rot for some time after be- 

 ig placed in the soil, and as it holds 

 le soil particles apart, the hot dry air 

 2netrates deeply soon drying it out to 

 he detriment or probable loss of many 

 ilants. The question of soil prepara- 

 pon is old, and to some it may seem 

 iuite unnecessary to mention it at all, 

 put one sees on every side, every spring, 

 f)eople digging or plowing strawy man- 

 ure, fresh or half rotted, into a lumpy 

 jil, and, therefore, I feel that I should 

 ition it. In a wet .season the ill-ef- 

 ects of straw in the soil are of course 



W. A. Dier, Ottawa, Ont. 



less noticeable, but as the average grow 

 ing season is dry, the safer plan is to 

 use only well rotted manure. 



FEETILIZBB8 



As a rule, unless the soil is very poor, 

 or very rich, a dressing of about three 

 inches of well rotted manure plowed or 

 dug in, and a moderate application of 

 bone meal, harrowed or raked in, is suf- 

 ficient fertilizer in the spring before 

 planting. Later on, in the early fall, a 

 good top dresing of hardwood ashes is 

 most valuable. The manure furnishes 

 humus, nitrogen and some potash ; the 

 bone supplies nitrogen and phosphoric 

 acid; and the ashes potash, phosphoric 

 acid and lime. Beds supplied with this 

 top-dressing of ashes, produce fruits of 

 the finest possible flavor and color. If 

 ashes are not procurable, muriate of 

 potash may be used. 



HOW TO PIiAUT 



The situation of a strawberry bed 

 should be open and airy; they will not 

 tolerate shade. F'arly spring is the us- 

 ual time of planting and for commercial 

 growers it is undoubtedly the only time ; 

 but for the man who grows for his own 

 u.se and incidentally for exhibition, and 

 who wishes to obtain the greatest 

 amount of the finest fruit, with the least 

 amount of labor, the annual system is 

 the best. 



There are three methods of culture, 

 the matted row, the narrow row and the 

 annual system. The first mentioned is 

 for commercial growers only, and need 

 not Ix; dealt with here. The narrow row 

 system is as follows : The plants are set 

 out in rows thirty to thirty-six inches 

 apart, with the plants twelve to eighteen 

 inches apart in the row. They should be 

 well cultivated, and the top inch or so 



of soil kept loose right up to the plant, 

 in order to conserve the moisture in the 

 soil. When the plants have become well 

 established in June or early in July, 

 three or four runners from each plant 

 are placed carefully about six inches 

 from the centre of the row on each side, 

 and between the plants in the row. Tv/o 

 plants only are allowed to each runner, 

 care being taken that they don't crowd 

 each other, four to six inches apart be- 

 ing about right. It is good policy when 

 possible to assist these little plants to 

 take root. 



As soon as the small white rootlets 

 are visible, they should be placed where 

 they are to be left, and kept in place by 

 a small stone or a little earth. When 

 the row has been formed, it is advisable 

 to religiously keep off all runners. It 

 pays to do it. The energy of the plant is 

 thereby turned in another direction, that 

 of forming new crowns and fruiting 

 buds. Thorough cultivation and hand 

 hoeing around each plant all summer is 

 imperative. The best time to annihiliate 

 weeds is when they are so small as to be 

 invisible. The constant stirring of the 

 surface of the soil will accomplish this, 

 and the time necesasry to do it is very 

 small ooimpared with what would be re- 

 quired were the weeds to get a start. 

 If they get a .start their removal from 

 the ground disturbs the plants, keeping 

 them back ; and besides valuable nour 

 ishment has Ix-en taken away by the 

 weeds, all of which is needed for the 

 plants. 



We have found motor goggles a great 

 help in protecting the eyes from the 

 spraying solution while spraying trees. 

 — Alfred Chaplin, Golden Acres, Rouge- 

 mont. Que. 



•Extract from an a<Jdrefls delivered at the laet 

 Mnnna.1 meetine of the Ontario Fruit Growera' 

 ,A»»ooiatlon. 



k 



Fallawaters, planted Twelve Years in Ihe Orchard of W. H. Gibson, Newcastle, 

 Ont. Promise of Second Good Crop. 



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