CHAPTER IX. 

 THE FIELD CULTIVATION OF THE STKAWBERRY. 



By Cecil H. Hooper and Rowland King Smith. 



It is a great advantage to plant the runners 

 in August or September, as by so doing the 

 plants have time to form their own roots and 

 get well established before winter. However, 

 this is more easily done in a garden than on 

 a farm, as the fruit farmer is generally very 

 busy with picking other fruits and has not 

 labour at that time to devote to the prepara- 

 tion of land for strawberries. So on a farm 

 it is more usual to clean and dung the land 

 in early winter and plant in February and 

 March. 



Steam cultivation is a good preparation for 

 strawberries, or a plough followed by a hcrse 

 hoe, or, if preferred, a second plough with the 

 mould board removed. The reason for this 

 stirring of the subsoil is that strawberries 

 like to root straight down and, if checked by 

 the " pan " left by many ploughings, are apt 

 to get root-bonnd. Deep cultivation previous 

 to planting is recommended for this and other 

 fruits and crops for several reasons : " it in- 

 creases the water-holding capacity of most 

 soils ; admits sunlight and air ; extends the 

 root-feeding area ; prevents light soils from 

 being blown away ; encourages the growth of 

 soil-bacteria ; prevents surface washing after 

 heavy rains ; and, lastly, enables plants to sue 

 cessfully withstand long periods of drought." 



In some cases, however, deep ploughing is 

 undesirable, as, for example, where soil is 

 very shallow or consists of a cold and heavy 

 clay ; the best results are usually obtained in 

 the cases of deep, uniform sandy loams. 



Trie experience of strawberry growers is 

 that a good dressing of stable or farmyard 

 manure should be applied before planting, 

 and that strawberries do not respond much to 

 guanos or artificial manures used as a top 

 dressing later in their growth. 



In lormer days in Kent, woodland used to 

 be grubbed and planted with strawberries, the 

 latter thriving well on the vegetable mould 

 formed by the decay of the fallen leaves of 

 the trees ; in this case the strawberries needed 

 no manure. 



It is very important to have the land clean, 

 well cultivated, and level with a good tilth ; 

 the land is rolled and either marked out by 

 a marking machine (something like a corn 

 drill), or marked out with a line, making the 

 ground firm by treading along each side of 

 the line. The runners should be taken from 

 plants only one or two years old, as those 

 from older plants are weaker. They should 

 also be only the first or second runner from 

 the plant. 



The rows are commonly marked out about 

 32 inches apart and the plants are placed 

 about 16 inches apart. Latterly, however, 

 many growers are adopting closer planting, 

 " Royal Sovereigns " being frequently planted 

 15 inches and even 1 foot apart in the row. 

 One or two plants are usually put in a hole ; 

 Sometimes three plants are dibbled in a bunch 

 to make a plantation quickly. 



The runners are dug up by fork, trimmed 

 of other runners, or any dead leaves, and tied 

 up in bunches of 25 plants. On a farm 

 the strawberries are usually planted in Feb 

 ruary and March. In a garden the trowel 

 is often used for taking up and planting, 

 the plants being trodden round to make them 

 quite firm. On a farm, however, the dibble 

 is the planting instrument, with which the 

 plant is also made firm ; a careful hoeing 

 follows within a week of the planting. 



JIany new strawberries appear from time 

 to time and are given a trial by market 

 growers. Up to the present in Kent the two 

 great standard varieties still hold the field, 

 viz., " Royal Sovereign " and '' Sir Joseph 

 Paxton." The latter does not grow as it 

 once did (20 or 30 years ago), but nothing has 

 yet been found that combines the cropping 

 power, flavour and keeping properties of this 

 notable strawberry. 



If jam is the main consideration, " Stirling 

 Castle" or "Scarlet" are usually chosen. In 

 such districts as that around Swanley, where 

 strawberries have been grown for many years, 

 coarser varieties, such as " Bedfordshire 



