296 



The illustrations from Bulletin No. 32 of the Georgia Experi- 

 ment Station show clearly how to do and how not to do the planting. 

 If the weather be too dry at the time of 

 planting it is better to suspend this work 

 until the ground is in a better condition. 

 Small plots, however, may be planted even 

 then, provided this is done in the evening 

 when the sun is low, and one pint or so of 

 water is given to each plant. The next day 

 break the crust to check evaporation, and if 

 the weather continues dry, water two or 

 three times the first week, then once a week 



Too deep. 



Cultivation. Careful cultivation, following up careful selection 

 of plants, set into equally carefully prepared soil, is the third 

 element of success of a strawberry plantation. If possible, do not 

 let a single weed go to seed the first season, and the result will be 

 apparent on the crop the following year. 



Hoeing should be done whenever a crust forms, a week or two 

 after planting; where horse cultivation is used the hoe should be 

 set shallow a Planet Junior is excellent for that work while for 

 a hand hoe, a thin steel tool with both narrow and wide blades, is 

 very convenient so as not to disturb the young roots. Air and 

 moisture thus freely penetrate the ground, and weeds will be 

 checked. Hand hoeing alone should, however, be used on the 

 ground around the plants. About that time the second or third 

 hoeing a slight dressing of sulphate of ammonia or of nitrate of 

 soda, j of a cwt. or a little more, is used with advantage along the 

 rows ; this dressing will greatly stimulate the growth of the bushes, 

 which will then begin to show their energy by throwing out runners ; 

 these should be treated as weeds the first one or two hoeings, so as 

 to get the plant well established before making any new plants. 

 Cultivation should almost cease from blooming time until fruit is 

 harvested. Weeds and grass gain a foothold during that time; the 

 larger weeds are pulled up by the roots, the ground also sets hard 

 under the tread of the pickers and from that cause, as well as from 

 the gradual exhaustion of the soil by continuous cropping and also 

 owing to the spread of pests and parasites, a plot ceases to be very 

 profitable after three or four years. After the season's growth and 

 at the approach of the wet weather in winter, the last working is 

 given to the land ; growers in moist localities set their Planet Jr. 

 behind with left and right mould boards, which gather the soil from 

 the plants and make a ridge in the centre, leaving the plants 

 standing in rows of uiiploughed ground 9 or 10 inches wide. This 

 allows the water to run off, and, later on, when the ground is worked 

 afresh, these ridges are levelled down by the implements, and the 

 soil is made smooth and mellow. 



Mulching. Two or three months after autumn's planting, and 

 before blossoming, it is advisable to coat the ground with some sort 

 of mulching two inches thick. Clean straw or grass, rushes, pine 



