4.8 Strawberry Culture 



He has raised berries of perfect form, three inches 'in diameter 

 and upward. 



To accomplish these results two things are necessary; good 

 varieties and good culture. It would be useless to try to grow 

 exhibition berries from any but the large varieties. It is a fact, 

 too, that most of these mammoth berries are produced on young 

 plants of the previous year's growth. Mr. Knox set his plants 

 in the spring, on rich clay soil, eighteen inches apart each way. 

 They received good culture, with hand labor only, and all the 

 runners were cut off faithfully. This is no more than others 

 have done, but in addition to this he covered his beds in the fall 

 with four or five inches of stable manure. Most of this was 

 raked off in the spring, but the soluble plant food that it con- 

 tained was washed into the soil during the winter, and furnished 

 all that the plants could use in the spring. It also prevented 

 any injury from freezing and thawing. 



Mr. Jeroleman pursues a very different course. In September, 

 after digging early potatoes, he plows his land twice, so as to 

 get it very fine and mellow, takes well-grown layers and plants 

 them for the next season's crop. Almost immediately he covers 

 the ground from six to twelve inches on each side of the plants 

 with three inches of stable manure. About December first the 

 entire bed is covered with an inch of salt hay. 



Very few people know what can be accomplished by taking 

 up good layers that have been well protected in the winter and 

 setting them in rich, well-prepared soil early in the spring. I 

 know one man who was very successful in getting prizes at straw- 

 berry shows, and he usually raised his berries from plants set 

 the same season, early. This shows that the strawberry plant 

 partakes of the characteristics of a bulb. While it does not 



