The Strawber?y Book. 15 
the next year’s operations. If a piece of pasture or grass 
land be selected for strawberries, it must be cultivated for 
one year, at least, with some clean-hoed crop.. The awful 
result of doing otherwise is shown in the chapter on in- 
sect enemies. 
If the land is heavy and inclined to wetness, ploughing 
up the soil in ridges very late in the fall is an excellent 
plan. A good deal: of surface is thus exposed to the 
weather, the ridges keep freezing and thawing. through 
the winter, and a good many grubs probably meet their 
death. Any process that leaves the field deep, rich, and 
mellow, insures success, so far as soil alone is concerned. 
Now and then we find a soil that is black and unctuous, 
neither wet nor dry, but delightfully moist throughout, 
and light enough to let the roots penetrate easily; and on 
soils like this are raised the crops that figure in the news- 
papers and.in reports of premiums, Fields of this soil, 
well manured, give results that amaze even their owners. 
I have in-my mind some fields of this rich, black soil, 
from which, I am told, have been picked nine thousand 
boxes per acre in a single season, 
