Commercial Fertilizer and the Strawberry 



Bv C. W. Foster 



TH K use of commercial fertilizers for 

 growing strawberries ft)r market is 

 more largely followed in the South 

 than in the North. Stable manure is 

 plentiful in the North; it is a very scarce 

 article in the South and so much more 

 valuable in making a corn crop than in 

 making a berry crop that I rarely have 

 seen it used. At three large shipping 

 points within forty miles of where I sit 

 writing twenty-five to thirty carloads per 

 day will be shipped this season, and on 

 some days, the largest shipping days, the 

 shipment may reach forty carloads, and I 

 venture to say that in a season of three 

 weeks, not one car load of berries has 

 been raised by the use of barn-yard 

 manure. 



First of all, it needs to be understood 

 and thoroughly fixed in the mind that 

 when we fertilize one year, we not only 

 expect to produce the next crop of ber- 

 ries from that fertilizing, but we do pro- 

 duce them from that fertilizing. 



We have found from sad experience 

 that the use of a nitrogenous fertilizer in 

 the spring before the plants are in bloom, 

 and while they are in bloom, makes the 

 berries so soft that they will not do to 

 ship by express or freight. The addition 

 of a phosphatic fertilizer in the spring has 

 the same effect in a less degree and both 

 unfortunately prolong the bearing season 

 and exhaust the plants. 



With us this is a misfortune. Our 

 shipping season is from two to three 

 weeks. It is much better that our plants 

 cease bearing at the end of that time and 

 save their strength for the next year. 

 We never take less than three and some- 

 times five crops before turning under a 

 field of berries; and if the field is well 

 worked the fifth crop is as good as the 

 first crop at least. 



Potash as a fertilizer gives color to the 

 berry; undoubtedly it could be applied in 

 the spring to advantage on a light-colored 

 berry, but we have not found it to be 

 necessaiy, for applied late in the fall it 

 seems to serve all purposes, and with 

 most of the berries we grow here, i. e., 

 the Excelsior, the Klondike, and the 

 Lady Thompson. 



As an illustration of our methods I will 

 give the history of a one-acre patch of 

 Lady Thompson for the year 1902-1903. 



After the season of 1902, which was a 

 light pick, owing to a very late frost, the 

 berries were barred off, that is, a one- 

 hotse plow was run on each side of the 

 row, turning a furrow away from the 

 plants, or rather, in this instance, the en- 

 tire middle was thoroughly plowed, turn- 

 ing the soil away from the plants, cutting 

 lots of the plants up, and leaving a narrow 

 ridge about six inches in width. The 

 rows were then hoed out, that is the hoe 



was struck through this ridge of plants so 

 as to leave about every foot, two or three 

 plants — last year's plants — old plants v\ith 

 their large crowns being discarded as far 

 as possible. Needless to say, all weeds 

 and grasses that could not be reached by 

 the hoe were pulled out by hand. The 

 plowed ground in the middle was then 

 thoroughly pulverized by a one-horse 

 large-toothed harrow. The ground was 

 pretty grassy and as the grass accumulated 

 in bunches, it was burnt and the middles 

 were at once turned back to the berry 

 row. It would ha\e been an ideal time 

 to fertilize before turning the soil back to 

 the berry plants, but there were more 

 acres to attend to and it could not he done 

 there. 



In a few days all the berry fields were 

 brought to the same stage and the plants 

 were already making runners, when a 

 harrow was run twice in each row to 

 level and fine the soil, and this was fol- 

 lowed by a narrow shovel plow or sweep 

 to sift a little fine dirt among the plants 

 and to leave a deep furrov\- for the fertil- 

 izer. 



The fertilizer used was acid phosphate, 

 200 lbs., cotton-seed meal, 100 lbs., and 

 a sufficient quantity' of a well-knov\n 

 potash salt to give about 30 lbs. of potash 

 per acre. This was distributed in the 

 furrow on each side of the row at the 

 rate of 400 lbs. per acre. The potash 

 salt was additional to this and put down 

 at the same time. A scooter run in the 

 furrow thoroughh' mixed the fertilizer 



with the soil and again the one-horse 

 turning plow was used to throw down 

 the ridge in the middle between the rows. 

 There was not a weed to be seen and it 

 was nearing the first of June. The after 

 cultivation was mostly a matter of harrow 

 and sweep, with a little hoeing. Not a 

 runner was cut and the Lady Thompson 

 makes plenty. You may judge it was a 

 matted row. There was no need for 

 mulching. None was applied and in the 

 spring some grass sprang up between the 

 row's. 



According to all the books, professors 

 and theorists there should have been no 

 berries, or if any, very small ones, but 

 neither books, professors nor theorists 

 were in it. This was the only Lady 

 Thompson we had in and in ten days we 

 picked and shipped 250 crates — quart 

 crates — of large fine berries. And in our 

 mind's eye we are comparing them with 

 Mr. Beatty's Covington berries, and he 

 sure raised fine ones. And then the 

 strike came. I don't know how many 

 crates rotted in the field but they were 

 not a few. 



The treatment of this acre is typical of 

 the vVay we raise berries in the South 

 land. When we raise them by the acre 

 for market we cut no runners, except 

 such as are cut accidentally. We do 

 not, as a rule, fertilize in the spring for 

 the reasons I have before suggested. 

 We do not mulch, but our plants are so 

 thick on the ground and on the edges of 

 this "matted row" there is usually a short 



AN ILLINOIS GROWER AND HIS GANG OF PICKERS 



?tge III 



