FERTILIZING STRAWBERRIES 



PREPARATION OF THE SOIL 



The aim of all preparation should be to render the soil 

 rich in available plant food, well drained, friable, sweet and 

 free from injurious weed seed and insect larvae. The ordi- 

 nary methods of preparation accorded general farm crops 

 will not do and will surely result in disappointment. The 

 small additional expense of a thoroughly prepared plant bed 

 will be amply justified in greatly increased yields and fruit 

 of superior quality. A piece of land that has been impov- 

 erished by previous cropping, often requires several years 

 of good management before it can be built up to grow 

 strawberries profitably. Such soils are most quickly brought 

 into condition through heavy applications of stable manure 

 or the plowing under of green manuring crops, combined 

 with the use of liberal amounts of commercial fertilizer. 

 Sod land or soil that has been idle for several years is not 

 desirable for immediate use. Such land is often infested 

 with the White Grub (Lachnostera), which is very destruc- 

 tive to newly established plantings. It is best to grow 

 some crop that requires clean cultivation for a year or two 

 preceding the strawberries, in order to eradicate noxious 

 weeds and rid the soil of most insect pupae. Weeds and the 

 White Grub constitute a constant menace to the economic 

 production of the strawberry. Clearing an old established 

 strawberry bed from weeds is an expensive operation, the 

 cost of which can be materially reduced by proper precau- 

 tions when preparing the soil before the plants are set. 



