90 A B C OF STRAWBERRY GUI/TURK. 



the same experience in the use of commercial fertilizers for po- 

 tatoes, also, on our soil. The remark of Prof. Green, of our 

 Experiment Station, to the effect that, where a good heavy 

 clover sod was turned under, one need not expect any returns 

 from commercial fertilizers, throws some light on this point. 

 On certain soils, other growers have had no better returns from 

 fertilizers than I ; and, again, on some soils they pay well, 

 more particularly on poor land or heavy soil. 



I have taken single plants and worked the fertilizer into 

 the soil for a foot around, all through the season, with a liberal 

 hand, but failed to make them show a particle of gain over 

 their neighbors, either in foliage, growth, or fruit. The same 

 thing has been done, also, with whole rows. So I think that, 

 before investing largely in fertilizers, one had better carefully 

 test them on his own grounds, and know whether they pay or 

 not. As a rule, berry growers on quite heavy soils have had 

 the best results with fertilizers so far as I have been able to 

 learn. Mr. Crawford says bone meal and ashes or potash are 

 the best fertilizers for strawberries. His soil is much heavier 

 than mine, and I presume it does not get a heavy clover sod 

 turned under once in three years. I will not attempt to say 

 (because I do not know) why fertilizers do not show good re- 

 sults wherever more stable manure would on my farm ; but I 

 know, from years of experience, that they do not. 



To show more clearly the different results on different soils, 

 and to encourage all to test this matter thoroughly for them- 

 selves, I quote some from a report published in the Rural New- 

 Yorker : 



" I have been experimenting with fertilizers on strawber- 

 ries, but have not been, to any great extent, successful either 

 in increasing the size or improving the quality of the fruit. A 

 plot on which no fertilizer was used produced as much and as 

 good fruit as any of the fertilized plots near it. This has been 

 the result of my experiments for five years. A few years ago 

 Mr. Hale recommended a heavy application of bone dust, two 



