STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETV. 93 



figures as to the fields, and prices of the products, as I have found 

 them in our own State. Strawberries can be grown on any soil that 

 is rich enough to produce corn, or potatoes. There are some unprofi- 

 table modes of cultivation. One is to set aside old, well tried and 

 reliable kinds, and invest in every new variety that is offered for 

 sale at exhorbitant prices, nine cases out of ten such varieties prove 

 worthless and unworthy of cultivation. Another bad plan is, to buy 

 and set out cheap plants, that are sold for a less price than good 

 pure first class plants can be produced, for either of these methods 

 will result in failure. In order to make the cultivation of small 

 fruits of any Mud pleasant and profitable you must devote your time 

 and attention to it. In setting out strawberry plants the ground 

 should be prepared by plowing, or spading deeply. The proper 

 soil, everything taken into consideration, is a sandy loam sufficiently 

 loose and porous, so that it will have the excellent quality of drainage 

 which is not only favorable during a wet summer, but also making 

 a marked difference in the winter season. A porous soil, lessens the 

 tendency to smother the plants from heavy snows and favors an 

 early start in the spring and earl3' cultivation. 



Mr. Chas. Downing tells us, that no fruit was so affected by vary- 

 ing soils and climates as the strawberry. I have come to the con- 

 elubion that soil, locality and climate make such vast difl'erences, 

 that unless these variations are carefully studied and understood, 

 books will mislead more people than they will help. My plants are 

 mostly on a clayey loam and give good yields of fruit, but the 

 ground heaves badly, and I think they are more liable to winter kill 

 than they would on a lighter soil. There are many waj's of cultiva- 

 tion ; I have always advocated the matted row sj^stem, for in field 

 culture there must be plent}- of room to work with a horse cultivator. 

 In the garden there is not always room to do this and a better plan 

 where you wish to economize space would be to set them in hills 

 about twenty inches apart, or two feet each way. The fruit is much 

 larger, the crop larger, and on most soils the work is much easier 

 with less labor by hand picking the weeds. There are sorts that 

 must be grown in hills to produce well, and there are none but what 

 do better grown in this way. 



I have used any and all kinds of fertilizers and find that my 

 strawberry bed needs a heavy application to give the best results. 

 Much depends upon the condition of the soil when the plants are 

 set If a hoed crop has been grown on the piece the previous year, 



