31 



fruit growers and market gardeners favorably located with respect to 

 soil and shipping faciUties would find a paying opportunity in the 

 growing of strawberries. 



There is another side of the question also to be considered, namely, 

 the growing of berries for home use. More than almost any other 

 fruit, the strawberry suffers by being shipped and roughly handled 

 in markets. The fresh berries out of one's own garden, thorouglily- 

 ripened on the vines, picked in the cool of the morning, and eaten 

 at noon with plenty of Jersey cream, — these are what make hfe worth 

 hving and a national inquiry into the status of the farmers' appetite 

 unnecessary. It certainly is a fact that more attention should be given 

 in Massachusetts to the growing of strawberries for home use. 



Soils and Localities. 



Strawberries can be successfully grown in every to^ni in ^lassa- 

 chusetts, so far as climate and locahty are concerned, — that is, 

 wherever a reasonably good soil is available. The strawberry plant 

 is not extremely fastidious in the matter of soil. Any land which will 

 produce good garden crops, especially good potatoes, will answer for 

 strawberries. A rich, friable, warm loam is best ; but even hea\'y clay 

 or sandy soil ivill grow strawberries if sufficient care is taken. 



The soil should be in a reasonably good state of cultivation before 

 the plants are set out. It is considered bad practice to plant on newly 

 broken sod land. If strawberries can follow corn, celery, tomatoes 

 or other well-cultivated garden crops good results may be expected. 

 If the plants are to be put out in spring, as is the usual practice, the 

 land should be deeply plowed in fall and left to weather through the 

 winter. 



How TO GET THE PlANTS, 



Doubtless the simplest way to get strawberry plants is to buy them 

 of a good nurseryman. This is a perfectly safe proposition and noth- 

 ing need be said against it. At the. same time, many persons prefer to 

 grow their own plants, and where this practice can be followed it is 

 certainly to be recommended. In our experience, we have found a 

 certain danger in bu}-ing plants, even from the very best of nursery- 

 men. In the first place, it is not always possible to get the varieties 

 wanted nor to get the plants when wanted; and, what is more serious, 

 plants frequently suffer more or less damage in shipment. Even when 

 packed in the very best manner they dry out more or less ; or, if they 

 do not dry out, they may mold or heat. These difficulties may be 

 entirel}' avoided by growing one's own plants. 



The importance of beginning with strong, vigorous, one-year-old 

 plants cannot be too much emphasized. The weak, diseased plants, 

 some minus roots, some ininus crowns, and some two years old, 

 sent out by bogus nurser}Tnen, are not worth planting. A two-}'ear- 

 old plant wliich has once borne fruit is not fit to transplant; yet 



