THE QUARTER ACRE STRAWBERRY PATCH. 



147 



Fig. 2284. Export Pkars— The Howell. 

 (Page 141.) 



beans, will will not refuse to grow straw- 

 berries enough to please the horticulturist, if 

 he chooses suitable varieties and gives them 

 fair treatment. As a rule, the lighter the 

 soil the earlier the crop. Earliness is also 

 favored by a slope of the land towards the 

 south or southeast. Heavy land inclining- 

 towards the north will give the largest and 

 latest fruit. 



Manure. — With the land comes the ques- 

 tion of manure. A land of natural fertility 

 is generally preferable — almost new land or 

 land broken up from pasture or a clover 

 crop a couple of years previously. But 

 pasture land is unsafe the year it is broken 

 up, and sometimes the next year, because it 

 is apt to be infested by the dreaded " White 

 Grub," which loves to feed on the roots of 



the strawberry plants. As a rule, the richer 

 the land the more profitable the crop. You 

 cannot easily insult the strawberry with 

 manure. Fifty loads to the acre would just 

 suit some varieties, while others will not re- 

 fuse a crop with none at all. It is straw- 

 berry wisdom to give just what you can 

 afford. Let us suppose you apply five loads 

 to the quarter acre. 



Now if the soil is selected, but the manure 

 has not been applied, don't plough it under. 

 Strawberry roots feed near the surface, and 

 and the essence of the manure may go down, 

 but will not come up. So plough the land 

 first. Then put on the manure. If it is 

 well rotted, all the better. If it is even 

 quite fresh, still it will do. It will do if it is 

 well worked in. The fresher it is, the more 

 it must be harrowed in, or it will scorch the 

 roots. Get the disk-harrow on it first, 

 especially if there is much straw in the 

 manure. 



Then let the common harrow, or better 

 still, the spring tooth harrow, run up and 

 down, cross-wise, and angle-wise, again 

 and again ; then, if any straw stuff shows, 

 get a good heavy roller driven over it, then 

 cut into it all over with the diik-harrow 

 once more, smooth it with the back of the 

 common harrow, roll it finally and send the 

 team home. A good half-day's work of a 

 good team thus fining the land will be a fine 

 investment. If the manure was well rotted, 

 you had better plant immediately ; but if it 

 was rather fresh, give it a week or ten days 

 to part with its inflammation to the gentle 

 poultice of the sil. Have the land all ready 

 for planting about 20th April if situated in 

 the warmer parts of Ontario, or by ist of 

 May in the colder districts. 



Planting. — Now for planting. The most 

 convenient way to arrange the row will be 

 to use a marker. A sort of sleigh-runner 

 arrangement that any man can make in an 

 hour or two will be convenient. One Cross 

 piece of thin batten or siding, 12 feet long, 



