STRAWBERRY. 55 



amount of manure applied to the soil the more abundant 

 the application the greater the profits. 



All plants require food, and it is evident that if it is not 

 in the soil it must be placed there, or no satisfactory re- 

 sults will be obtained. In .the Eastern States we gather 

 fruit in proportion to the amount of plant-food which we 

 place in the soil. 



Old and thoroughly decomposed barn-yard manure is 

 scarcely to be excelled for the Strawberry. But it is often 

 the case that a sufficient quantity of this cannot be ob- 

 tained, and if so, then the next best thing to be done is 

 to make a compost of barn-yard manure and muck, leaves 

 or sods, using one load of manure and two of either of 

 the others. Mix them together, and let them remain in a 

 heap for three months or more, not forgetting to turn it 

 over at least once a month. 



In heavy soils fresh manure may be used without injury, 

 and if a liberal application of peat or light friable muck is 

 given it will be very beneficial. In sandy soils a compost 

 of muck and manure is one of the best fertilizers that can 

 be applied. In fact, pure muck from the swamps, placed 

 where it can be frequently stirred, will become in one 

 season suitable to be applied directly to the roots of al- 

 most any plant. 



If lime, ashes, spent hops from the breweries, castor 

 pomace or any similar materials be added, even in small 

 quantities, it will assist very much in its decomposition 

 and fitting it for the use of plants. There are thousands 

 of acres of land in the Eastern States that are now pro- 

 ducing nothing, not even weeds, because manure cannot 

 be obtained in sufficient quantities to make them fertile, 

 and yet in many instances these very acres are bordered 

 with muck-beds which are nothing more or less than inex- 

 haustible deposits of manure. 



The time is probably not far distant when these mines 



