Time to Plant 229 



running as much as eight inches. But where the soils are 

 shallow, it may be necessary to plow only half that deep. 

 In this plowing, when manure has been added or crops 

 turned under, the land needs to be turned completely over 

 and then disced and harrowed so as to thoroughly incor- 

 porate the manure with the plowed ground. This will 

 make the soil spongy, light and friable, so that the plant 

 roots can penetrate to all parts of it and it will maintain 

 a more even temperature around the roots than in a com- 

 pact soil. 



Rolling the land is sometimes a necessity and espe- 

 cially on soils which are naturally very heavy. On light 

 soils such as sandy-loam clays, rolling may not be a neces- 

 sity, although if it is lumpy rolling may be an advantage. 

 The purpose of the rolling is to not only break the lumps, 

 but to compact the soil so that the roots can quickly attach 

 themselves. Rolling compacts the soil and prevents exces- 

 sive aeration, which is possible in very light soils. Aeration 

 not only dries out the roots, but it has a decided influence 

 on the development and action of the soil bacteria and the 

 liberation of fertility. 



Time to Plant 



The time to plant the berries depends a great deal on 

 where one is located. In the South planting may be done 

 to best, advantage in the fall or early winter months. In 

 the Middle West it can be done at any time when the soil 

 is not too dry or frozen, while in the North spring plant- 

 ing will give the best results. The time to plant will de- 

 pend on the season of the year at which the plants will 

 most quickly take hold of the soil and become established. 

 A strawberry plant is somewhat like a potato. In the fall 

 it has stored up in its roots and crown a considerable quan- 

 tity of food material that can -be drawn upon to maintain 

 itself when conditions otherwise may make it impossible to 

 obtain such material from the soil. 



Because of this one may ask why it is not just as well 

 tc set the plants as soon as they become dormant in the 

 fall. As a matter of fact, plants do not become dormant 



