20 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



in phosphoric acid and potash, but some varieties will give an 

 excess of foliage, at the expense of fruit, if too much nitrogen is 

 used. Hard wood ashes are generally easily obtained and make 

 one of the best fertilizers for all fruits. Plow deep and cultivate 

 thoroughly that the plants may take deep root and be able to 

 withstand the drought which frequently comes just as the fruit 

 is filling out. 



If the plants are set in rows three feet apart and kept in nar- 

 row matted rows (6 inches wide), by cutting all runners which 

 extend beyond this, the ground can be worked with the horse 

 cultivator, when working the vegetable garden. Do not wait 

 until the weeds begin to grow before stirring the soil, but every 

 few days run over the ground and see what a wonderful effect 

 it will have upon the plants. So many of our people till the 

 ground only to kill the weeds and have not learned the effect, 

 and do not realize the need of this frequent stirring of the soil. 

 To obtain a full crop the plant must have a large supply of water 

 when the berries are filling out and there is nothing like a fine 

 earth mulch to conserve the moisture and thus furnish a good 

 supply when most needed. If you have but a little patch, take 

 the hoe along every time you go out to look at it, particularly 

 if the ground begins to bake a little after a shower. Most people 

 do not realize what hoeing means to the plant. 



Do not select a piece of land for the strawberry bed where the 

 water can stand and freeze in the winter. As we are not sure 

 of a blanket of snow on the bed all winter, it is best to cover 

 with evergreen boughs as soon as the ground freezes in the fall. 

 Swamp hay or some such material may do as well if not put on 

 deep enough to smother the vines. Do not remove the covering 

 too early in the spring as the frequent freezing and thawing may 

 work much injury to the roots. 



There are many little things that must be learned from expe- 

 rience. Do not be discouraged if you fail the first time. My 

 first patch did not give me a quart of berries. A friend gave me 

 the plants and they were a pistillate variety with no other kind 

 to fertilize them. My next attempt was a total loss, as the ice 

 formed on the bed and killed nearly every plant. But the next 

 time I succeeded, although I planted, contrary to all advice, on 

 a heavy witch-grass sward. We picked over two hundred quarts 



