Strawberry Culture. 265 



berries have always been scarce, always commanded good prices, 

 and consequently always proved profitable to the producer, and 

 to the dealer as well. Like the onion among vegetables, so the 

 strawberry among fruits is the great money crop for the skillful 

 grower, but a source of annoyance, disappointment, and even 

 loss to the shiftless manager. 



The chief aim of the grower must be directed towards 

 growing fine berries, picking them when just right, and bringing 

 them to market in best possible shape. Mr. John Burdett who 

 lives seventeen miles from Buffalo, and is known to fruit growers 

 as the originator of the " Long John " strawberry, a particularly 

 prolific sort, equaling the Wilson in its best characteristics, picks 

 his berries very early in the morning (from 3 to 7 A. M.), grades 

 and arranges them, all of uniform size and appearance in each 

 package, upon fancy plates or in fancy baskets ; takes his morn- 

 ing's product to Buffalo, on train at 8 A. M., and delivers this 

 fancy article at fancy fruit stores an hour later only a few hours 

 after they came from the patch and always receives 25 or 30 

 cents a quart for them. As he is the only one furnishing this class 

 of goods, and only in limited quantities at that, he virtually controls 

 the market, and gets his own price for his fancy article. 



SOIL. In the selection of soil for strawberries I would give 

 a deep, well-drained clay loam the preference, although a good 

 crop can be grown on any soil adapted for the production of a 

 good crop of corn. The lay and composition of the land has a 

 great influence upon the season of ripening. Among the chief 

 factors favoring earl iness of crop are sandy composition of soil, 

 porous subsoil, south-eastern exposure, and selection of early 

 varieties; while the following conditions, viz., muck or clay soil, 

 clay subsoil, north or north-western exposure, heavy mulch left 

 on until late in spring, and selection of late varieties, tend to 

 make the crop a very late one. The market gardener who has a 

 variety of soils and situations may make such selections and 

 combinations which suit his particular purpose. By proper selec- 

 tion of conditions, the berry season can be greatly lengthened, or 

 the bulk of crop ripened in just such season as the market may 

 be expected to be most favorable. 



Old sod should be avoided, as it is usually infested with 

 white grubs (the larvae of the May beetle), and with other 

 insect enemies. Nothing will fit a piece of ground so nicely for 

 planting to strawberries, as cropping for a year or two with 

 onions, beets, carrots, or other close-planted vegetables, which need 

 high manuring and thorough cultivation, and leave the land in a 

 high state of fertility, and reasonably free from weeds. 



MANURING. Really fine strawberries can only be grown on 

 fertile soil, and poor ones are hardly worth growing. Too much 

 manure cannot well be applied, although an overdose is not 



