54 SMALL FRUIT CULTURIST. 



may not be found where deep plowing will not render the 

 soil suitable for a Strawberry bed. Thorough preparation 

 of the soil is the very foundation of success, therefore no 

 slovenly system such as once plowing and harrowing 

 should be tolerated ; but the ground should not only be 

 plowed, but cross-plowed, and if not naturally deep and 

 friable it should be subsoiled at least sixteen inches deep. 

 If the cultivator will only bear in mind that one acre pre- 

 pared in the best manner will produce more fruit than 

 three or four acres fitted as is usually done, he will under- 

 stand the importance of doing it well. 



I do not believe that there is one acre of Strawberries 

 in a thousand, cultivated in this country, that yields over 

 one half that it would if the ground was properly pre- 

 pared before planting. 



It is the same with Strawberries as with many other 

 fruits too many acres and too little care. 



The situation should be open and airy, because in such 

 there is less danger of the blossoms being injured by late 

 spring frosts. 



To secure the early ripening of the fruit, a southern 

 exposure is of course preferable, and for -a late crop a 

 northern one. By planting the very earliest varieties in 

 a warm situation, and the latest in a cool one, the season 

 may be considerably lengthened. 



MANURES. 



The Strawberry is not very particular as to the kind of 

 manure it receives, provided it is in sufficient quantities. 

 To tell a man who cultivates the Strawberry on the rich 

 prairie soil of the West that he must apply manure to his 

 soil before planting, would be considered a very foolish 

 recommendation ; but to undertake to grow them on al- 

 most any of our eastern lands without it would be equally 

 absurd. In fact, most of our fruit growers in the Eastern 

 States determine their profits in advance, simply by the 



