72 Success with Small Fruits. 



land, I would unhesitatingly take the former, and I would overcome its 

 native unfitness by the following methods : If at all inclined to be wet, 

 as would be natural from its tenacious texture, I should first underdrain 

 it thoroughly with tile. Then, if I found a fair amount of vegetable 

 matter, I would give it a dressing of air-slaked lime, and plow it deeply 

 late in the fall, leaving it unharrowed so as to expose as much of the soil 

 as possible to the action of frost. Early in the spring, as soon as the 

 ground was dry enough to work and all danger of frost was over, I would 

 harrow in buckwheat and plow it under as it came into blossom ; then 

 sow a second crop and plow that under also. It is the characteristic 

 of buckwheat to lighten and clean land, and the reader perceives that 

 it should be our constant aim to impart lightness and life to the heavy 

 soil. Lime, in addition to its fertilizing effects, acts chemically on the 

 ground, producing the desired effect. It may be objected that lime is 

 not good for strawberries. That -is true if crude lime is applied directly 

 to the plants, as we would ashes or bone dust ; but when it is mixed 

 with the soil for months, it is so neutralized as to be helpful, and in the 

 meantime its action on the soil itself is of great value. It must be 

 used for strawberries, however, in more limited quantities than for many 

 other crops, or else more time must be given for it to become incor- 

 porated with the soil. 



The coarse green straw of the buckwheat is useful by its mechanical 

 division of the heavy land, while at the same time its decomposition fills 

 the soil with ammonia and other gases vitally necessary to the plant. A 

 clay soil retains these gases with little waste. It is thus capable of being 

 enriched to almost any extent, and can be made a store-house of wealth. 



Where it can be procured, there is no better fertilizer for clay land 

 than the product of the horse-stable, which, as a rule, can be plowed 

 under in its raw, unfermented state, its heat and action in decay produc- 

 ing the best results. Of course, judgment and moderation must be 

 employed. The roots of a young, growing plant cannot feed in a mass of 

 fermenting manure, no matter what the soil may be. The point I wish to 

 make is that cold, heavy land is greatly benefited by having these heating, 

 gas-producing processes take place beneath its surface. After they are 

 over, the tall rank foliage and enormous fruit of the Jucunda strawberry (a 

 variety that can scarcely grow at all in sand) will show the capabilities 

 of clay. 



Heavy land is the favorite home of the grasses, and is usually covered 

 with a thick, tenacious sod. This, of course, must be thoroughly subdued 

 before strawberries are planted, or else you will have a hay field in spite 



