A B C OF STRAWBERRY GUI/TURK. 87 



shallow, to make a mulch of earth. Those who did their best 

 had little to complain of ; those who said, "It is of no use ; 

 they will all dry up any way," got just what they expected 

 nothing. Those who half way tended to them got a half-way 

 crop. 



Now, I hope all these experiences may throw a little light 

 on the irrigation question. I came back from visiting Mr. 

 Smith, with the idea in my head that either mulching or tillage 

 is vastly more practicable to accomplish the desired end than 

 irrigation. That idea still remains there. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



MANURING, AND THE USE OF FERTILIZERS. 



For the market-gardener who does not grow small grain 

 crops after his strawberries, one of the secrets of great success 

 will undoubtedly be very heavy manuring. The strawberry- 

 vines do not exhaust the land particularly, but they do a good 

 deal of business in a short time, in the second spring and early 

 summer ; and to do all they can, they must have an abundance 

 of available fertility right at hand. From all I have picked up 

 on the subject, I would not advise any one attempting to grow 

 200 to 300 bushels per acre to put all this manure on the land 

 before setting out the plants. It has been found sometimes to 

 make an overgrowth of vines, which do not produce fruit as 

 expected. I would rather put part of the manure on the pre- 

 vious year, say enough to make the land rich enough to bring 

 40 bushels of wheat or 250 of potatoes per acre, and then use 

 the rest of the manure as a top-dressing, or mulch, putting it 

 on as soon as the ground freezes hard in the fall or early win- 

 ter. In this way you will get a strong healthy growth of plants, 



