GROWING THE STRAWBERRY 419 



Situations and Soils for the Strawberry. Bearing in mind the 

 conditions described, the strawberry can be grown anywhere in Cali- 

 fornia. The native species, as mentioned in Chapter V, flourish from 

 the sand of the ocean beach to the rich valleys of the Sierra, just below 

 the line of perpetual snow, and the deduction is that wherever fertile 

 soil and sweet water can be brought together in California, the straw- 

 berry will reward the grower. 



Strawberries do well on a variety of soils, but as a rule a deep, 

 moist, loamy soil will yield best results. Boggy or swampy spots should 

 be avoided unless drainage is provided, and in this way most excellent 

 strawberry ground may sometimes be secured. Land which will pro- 

 duce good potatoes or corn will generally yield good results with straw- 

 berries, provided irrigation is furnished. In many regions the plants 

 will hardly survive the summer without irrigation and everywhere a 

 succession of crops during the season depends upon irrigation. It is the 

 common experience that light, warm soils yield the earliest and highest- 

 flavored berries, and heavy soils the later and larger ones ; but the size 

 of the berry depends more upon the supply of available moisture, and 

 immense fruit can be produced on loose, open soils by free irrigation. 

 And yet the heavier soil, both because of its usually superior fertility 

 and retention of moisture, is preferred for the strawberry. The largest 

 producing regions for the San Francisco market in the Santa Clara 

 and Pajaro Valleys are comprised mainly of low-lying, heavy valley 

 soils, naturally moist and rich, and furnished with abundant water sup- 

 ply for irrigation. And yet in southern California the chief market 

 crops are produced upon light sandy loams with water equal to the 

 needs of the plants upon such a footing. It must be remembered that 

 the strawberry is a shallow-rooting plant and must have moisture re- 

 tained near the surface. Some loose soils, especially on uplands, are 

 almost out of the question for strawberry growing. They are so leachy 

 that they will not hold moisture near the surface though one should 

 stand with a hose and almost continually pour it on. The plants would 

 also dry up though the water were running near by in a ditch. To grow 

 strawberries it is often an advantage to have a shallow loam over a clay 

 or hardpan, for then the tight layer below will prevent the escape of the 

 water below the reach of the roots. If this can not be had, the best 

 way to grow strawberries on leachy soils for home use is to mulch and 

 sprinkle. 



Propagation of the Strawberry. Seedlings undertaken in the 

 hope of originating valuable new varieties are easily grown by taking 

 off the outside layer of the choicest berries, which carries with it the 

 small, yellow seeds. Wash these from the skin and cover them slightly 

 in a sandy soil partially shaded and kept moist by sprinkling, or a light 

 mulch, and the plants are readily grown. As with seedlings of other 

 fruits, few, if any, will be found superior to the parent variety. 



Plants for setting out are secured by taking off the small growth? 

 rooted from runners. The strongest plants are those nearest to the 

 parent plant. When these are allowed to root in small pots plunged 

 into the soil, they are called "pot-grown," and are superior for plant- 

 ing out, but they are not largely used in this State. When plants of 



