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Crop rotations and green manure crops are discussed in detail 

 in Publication No. 17 entitled "Small Fruit Culture," which is avail 

 able from the Plymouth County Extension Service Office. 



Soil 



berries s 

 in land, 

 from black 



fumi gation : 

 nould 



Any grower seriously interested in growing straw- 



make fumigation a regular practice. The investment 



labor, plants and time is too great to risk crop failure 

 root rot or Verticillium wilt, which are becoming more 

 widespread. With the excellent soil fumigating chemicals available 

 today plus the availability of custom application, soil fumigation 

 is available to every grower. To be effective, fumigation should 

 be done in early fall and plants should be set the following spring 



For fumigation, soil temperature should be about 60°F. The 

 soil should be neither too wet nor too dry, and it should have been 

 plowed and harrowed beforehand. All plant residues should be com- 

 pletely decomposed 



800 pounds of 10-10-10 fertilizer or its equivalent per acre are 

 suggested, and without manure or cover crops, 400 pounds of 10-10-10 

 fertilizer per acre are desirable. The necessity of additional fer- 

 tilizer during the growing season is dependent on the size, vigor and 

 color of the plants. Sidedressing with a nitrogen carrier at the 

 rate of 30 pounds of actual nitrogen per acre one month after setting 

 plants and again in late August just before fruit bud initiation is 

 commonly practiced by growers, however. 



Irrigation andfrostprotection : Irrigation is a must for consist- 

 ently high yiel ds . Strawberries are shallow rooted plants with 75 

 percent of their root system in the top three inches of soil. There- 

 fore, irrigation is of particular benefit if dry weather prevails in 

 spring after setting plants, in the fall during fruit bud development, 

 or when fruit is developing. 



Irrigation is also extremely useful for protection against spring 

 frost; a cause of reduced strawberry yields in Massachusetts last 

 year. The value of irrigation can be illustrated by the experience 

 of one Massachusetts grower who, in 1969, harvested 17,000 quarts per 

 acre on a bed that required irrigation for frost protection on 13 

 nights in May. Irrigation, turned on when the temperature at plant 

 levels drops to 32° F, and continued until the temperature rises above 

 32°F, will provide protection from temperatures as low as 22° F. 



