4 STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. 



clay soils may be brought into this condition by the use of 

 lime and sub-soiling. The plant needs an ample supply of 

 moisture, but cannot develop if its roots are in a cold, 

 sodden soil. Avoid very low-lying plots, as there is in such 

 conditions considerable danger from frost. A slope to the 

 south will make the fruit earlier; a slope to the north or 

 northeast will encourage late ripening. 



Preparation of the Soil. The soil should have been in 

 some cultivated crop the year previous to a planting of 

 strawberries, as this gives not only a soil in good tilth, but 

 also guards against a too free growth of weeds and checks 

 various insect attacks. Red clover sod or land that has 

 laid fallow, is apt to be infected with white grub and 

 other insect enemies. A clover sod may contain large 

 stores of plant food in the form of organic matter, but it 

 will decompose so slowly that the plants will be kept back 

 until late in the season, when a too free growth is not de- 

 sirable. If the clover sod or fallow land is plowed in the 

 spring and planted to a cultivated crop, it will be in excel- 

 lent condition for strawberry planting the following fall, 

 winter, or spring. 



Plow thoroughly, even cross-plow if the soil is heavy. 

 If cloddy, reduce to a fine condition by thorough harrowing. 

 It will most always pay to subsoil, especially in sections 

 given to droughts, as the capacity of the land to retain 

 moisture is thereby increased. Clay lands should always 

 be subsoiled. 



On hilly land, the beds may be ridged across the slope; 

 if the soil is light, some such protection against washing is 

 necessary. Terracing will pay where it is needed, especially 



