The Strawberry Book. 15 



the next year's operations. If a piece of pasture or grass 

 land be selected for strawberries, it must be cultivated for 

 one year, at least, with some clean-hoed crop. The awful 

 result of doing otherwise is shown in the chapter on in- 

 sect enemies. 



If the land is heavy and inclined to wetness, ploughing 

 up the soil in ridges very late in the fall is an excellent 

 plan. A good deal of surface is thus exposed to the 

 weather, the ridges keep freezing and thawing through 

 the winter, and a good many grubs probably meet their 

 death. Any process that leaves the field deep, rich, and 

 mellow, insures success, so far as soil alone is concerned. 



Now and then we find a soil that is black and unctuous, 

 neither wet nor dry, but delightfully moist throughout, 

 and light enough to let the roots penetrate easily ; and on 

 soils like this are raised the crops that figure in the news- 

 papers and in reports of premiums. Fields of this soil, 

 well manured, give results that amaze even their owners. 

 I have in my mind some fields of this rich, black soil, 

 from which, I am told, have been picked nine thousand 

 boxes per acre in a single season. 



