THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1906 



at these places that the garden-patch 

 grew into one, two and three acre patches, 

 and finally into hundred-acre fields of 

 strawberries. Here the berry raiser 

 worked out the modern methods used in 

 field culture and shipping. 



The food office of the strawberry is to 

 supply its beneficial vegetable acid to the 

 system, diluted and flavored as it is by the 

 water and sugar and the delicate fruit 

 aroma, the combination of which, in the 

 case of the strawberry, has attamed so de- 

 lightful a degree of perfection, and eaten 

 from the plant, or served with sugar and 

 cream, is an Arcadian dainty, leaving 

 nothing to be wished for, making it prob- 

 ably the most wholesome of all fruits. 



Potash in Strawberry Production 



ONE of the errors found in every 

 section of the country is that pot- 

 ash is a plant food which, if fed 

 alone to strawberries, will be all-sufficient. 

 Writing on that subject George Wright 

 says: It is a very important thing to re- 

 member that however efficient and valu- 

 able potash may be as a plant food, it 

 cannot fulfill the conditions of a complete 

 fertilizer — it is not a complete plant food 

 any more than oats would be a complete 

 food for the horse. It is but an element 

 of food, and its real value will be largely 

 measured by the content of phosphoric 

 acid and the nitrogen in the soil, either 

 naturally or artificially applied, in order to 

 meet ali the needs of the plant. 



One of the crops which usually re- 

 sponds liberally to the use of potash, in 

 connection with the other elements, is the 

 strawberry. This is a crop which can be 

 successfully grown on almost any soil if 

 proper attention is given to the matter of 

 proper fertilization. Correct methods in 

 this direction are even more important 

 than that of soil selection. It can be 

 truly said that no crop will continue to 

 produce a profitable yield of berries un- 

 less they be judiciously and liberally fer- 

 tilized. Besides improving the yield of 

 fruit, such fertilization also materially im- 

 proves the quality of the berry, both as to 

 flavor and firmness, the latter being a 

 matter of considerable commercial impor- 

 tance. 



A satisfactory strawberry fertilizer 

 should contain about the following pro- 

 portion of ingredients: 



Nitrogen 3 per cent 



Potash 10 per cent 



Phosphoric Acid 7 per cent 



If the berries are to be produced upon 

 soils quite sandy, it may even be better to 

 increase the potash to 12 per cent. Such 

 a mixture should be applied at the rate of 

 about 500 pounds per acre, and thor- 

 oughly worked into the soil. If the lo- 

 cation is one in which heavy winter and 

 spring rains may be expected, it is well 

 to apply only a portion — say 150 pounds — 



of the nitrate of soda to the berries at first, 

 the balance to be applied somewhat later. 

 The fertilizer should not be sown directly 

 on the plants while in an active growing 

 state, as the leaves will be injured by 

 such treatment, but the material may be 

 distributed around the plants in such a 

 way as not to come into direct contact 

 with the plants themselves. 



The amount of ingredients named may 

 seem large, but the strawberry, small as 

 the plant is, is a strong feeder, as will be 

 seen from the following table showing 

 the ingredients removed from an acre 

 by an average crop of strawberries: 



From the above it will be seen that it 

 would require about twelve tons of barnyard 

 manure to return to the soil the ingredi- 

 ents of a single crop of strawberries, and 

 even then there would be a considerable 

 excess of nitrogen, which would have the 



tendency to produce a very heavy growth 

 of foliage at the expense of fruit. Such 

 an unbalanced material as stable manure 

 alone cannot be recommended for this 

 crop. 



The stable manure in moderate 

 amounts, balanced up by the use of pot- 

 ash, would be fairly good practice. 



If the nitrogen be obtained from the 

 stable manure, then there will be suffici- 

 ent in the latter too, but the potash will 

 be deficient, and this can be supplied 

 either from the sulphate or muriate of 

 potash. 



.^ .^ 



ONE young Iowa farmer has at last 

 got his eyes open to a very impor- 

 tant thing. He writes Fartri, Stock and 

 Home, of Minneapolis, about it, saying: 

 'T have been in the habit of scanning my 

 farm paper much as I do my daily, pick- 

 ing out the funny or light reading, and 

 those things that seemed unusual or sen- 

 sational in growth or yield of farm pro- 



Strawberries 



IF YOU believe the plants you plant cut any figure in the results; 

 if you think think the best is none too good for you, and cheap- 

 est in the end, and if you want to be sureof getting the variety you 

 buy, in a condition to make the most for you, I ask you to investigate 



THE PLANTS I GROW 



I don't claim to sell you plants cheaper than anybody else. I am 

 not competing with the man whose stock has nothing but cheapness 

 to recommend it, and it is not to your interest to buy that kind. My 

 claim is that I am producing the best, strongest, most vigorous and 

 most prolific plants that can be grown in a favored strawberry climate 

 and that I am selling them at a reasonable price. 



ONE HUNDRED VARIETIES 



About every kind that has ever proved its right to be grown in any 

 locality. Oi course I especially recommend the well known varie- 

 ties that are standard everywhere, among them being Virginia, Chesa- 

 peake. Cardinal, Commonwealth, Norlh Shore, Oaks Early, New York. 

 Glen Mary, Stephen's Champion, etc. But select your own varieties 

 and I will send plants to please you. 



MY 60- PAGE CATALOGUE 



Is free and gives all particulars. Also lists leading varieties in Cab- 

 bage, Cantaloupe, Tomatoes, Field Corn, etc. Tested novelties and 

 Standard Garden, Field and Agricultural Implements. Don't fail 

 to write for a copy. 



W. F.ALLEN, "1^' SALISBURY, Md. 



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