or irrigation. The season for ripe fruit opens early in June in southern Ontario and 

 in parts of British Columbia. At Ottawa the first ripe fruit has been obtained on June 

 17, and the last picking of the latest variety was made on July 19. The season in the 

 settled parts of the province of Quebec is somewhat similar to that at Ottawa, except 

 along the lower St. Lawrence, where it is much later, the fruit not being ripe until 

 about the iirst week of July, and the season continuing until the second week of 

 August. The season on Prince Edward Island extends into August also. The straw- 

 berry season in all parts of Canada covers two months or more. 



Culture : Soil and its Preparation. 



If possible, the site for the strawberry plantation should be chosen where snow 

 will lie in winter. A good covering of snow usually ensures a good crop of fruit. One 

 of the most important requisites in a soil for strawberries is thorough drainage, as 

 where water lies on or near the surface, the plants are sure to suffer either in summer 

 or winter. While too much moisture is bad, too little moisture is unfavourable to the 

 development of fruit, hence a soil should be retentive of moisture while not saturated 

 with it. Warm soils, such as sandy loams, will produce early fruit, but friable clay 

 loam will usually produce the best crops. Much, however, depends on the richness of 

 the soil, ae strawberries need abundance of available plant-food to give the best 

 results. 



Soil which will grow good crops of roots will usually grow good strawberries. A 

 soil should be chosen, if possible, which does not bake naturally or which by thorough 

 tillage may be brought into such good condition that it will not bake. It is difficult 

 to keep the plantation free of weeds in soil that bakes, and it is also hard to conserve 

 soil-moisture in a dry time. 



Soil should be chosen, if possible, that has been prepared in a measure by grow- 

 ing a crop of roots which have been heavily manured. After the roots or other crops 

 have been removed in the autumn, the land should be stirred deeply, it being a good 

 practice to use a subsoil plough for this purpose. By using the subsoil plough 

 the soil may be loosened to the required depth without bringing the subsoil to 

 the surface, which would probably happen if it were ploughed very deep with the 

 ordinary plough. Clover sod ploughed in the autumn is also good, as the sod furnishes 

 humus, but grass sod land should be avoided, as there is great danger of injury from 

 the white grub. In the spring the soil should be brought into good tilth with the 

 harrows, and when it is thought best it may be ploughed beforehand. 



The best fertilizer for strav.'berries is well-rotted barnyard manure, which should 

 be used in large quantities. There need be little fear of using too much — thirty tons 

 of well-rotted barnyard manure per acre being a fair application. It may be applied 

 early in the spring before planting and thoroughly incorporated with the soil, or it 

 may be used for a previous cultivated crop so as to get the soil clean and in the best 

 condition for the strawberry plants. Presh manure is not as satisfactory as manure 

 well rotted, for it may make the soil too loose, causing it to dry out quicker and make the 

 conditions bad for newly-set plants. On hea^Tr soils, fresh manure may be used with 

 better results than on lighter soils, but as there are likely to be many weeds o-row if 

 green manure is used, rotted manure is preferable even on heavier soils. 



