TOWNSEND'S 20th CENTURY “CATALOG Nae oe 
Se eee ee ee 
berry in all its different forms. I found that there were man j i 
: y things necessary to brin 
about the much needed reforms. In the first place, I found that ak choueh Care wan 
being taken in preparing the soil for the crop; second, there was a great improvement to 
ee ee eee plan eereeuo and Hlant breeding; third, there had not been the proper 
ross tertilization—these were the main points that I f i i - 
der to produce a better and larger crop of fruit. y OATES Ee ta 
I will take up first the three important points as in order above and t i 
the methods used in growing Townsend’s Thoroughbreds, why they are callen Thosonene 
bred, and why they have gained a nationwide reputation, 
PREPARING THE SOIL 
In order that the soil shall be prepared in pro lition i 
2 ey per condition the work must begin 
one year in advance of the setting of the plants. In the first place, the soil should “ne 
plowed deep and put in fine, mellow condition. The proper plant foods should be applied 
as the soil may need. Here we find a great many remedies, and it is necessary, as we 
*nust surely find a great many different kinds of soil and conditions of soil. Some need 
Aime and, in fact, in most cases lime is needed. Where lime is needed we should apply 
zat least two tons per acre. I prefer lime in the raw state, as it then begins its active 
‘werk just when it is needed most. Wood ashes may be used with like effect, and some 
“times come handy. When ashes are used we use according to the strength of the ashes: 
If good, hard wood ashes, four tons per acre; if pine or soft wood ashes, more may be used. 
-All this should be thoroughly incorporated in the soil before the leguminous crop is 
‘planted. Potatoes, Tomatoes, Cow Peas or Vetch make good leguminous crops. After 
‘the crop is harvested I recommend, where convenient, ten tons of barnyard manure to 
ithe acre broadcast and then plowed, the plowing to lay until early spring when the soil 
as dry enough to work to pieces, after thoroughly harrowing and the soil is fine and 
Imellow. I advise drilling 400 pounds of good commercial fertilizer to the acre about two 
weeks before planting. The fertilizer should have a large per cent potash, as potash is 
@ very essential part in plant growth as well as fruit. Therefore potash should not be 
overlooked in the growing of strawberries. After the fertilizer is properly worked deep 
in the soil we roll our land smooth and mark rows three and one-half to four feet apart, 
and set plants twenty to thirty inches in the row. Shallow and often cultivation is nec- 
essary from two weeks after piants are set until frost. The oftener the strawberry 
patch is worked the less the labor bill, and it becomes a pleasure to work a clean patch 
where it seems a burden to work in a foul, grassy patch. The writer knows, for he has 
been in both kinds, Next in order is the 
SELECTION OF PLANTS 
In the first place, there is a vast difference in plants of the same variety. Most 
all growers have no doubt noticed this point. Some plants will be productive, others 
moderately productive and others almost barren, and, in fact, some that does never 
send up a fruiting bud or crown. It is the above facts that have made the selection of 
plants necessary. This fact was not thought of in the beginning of strawberry growing in 
this country, and, in fact, was not thought of for many, many years. And still another 
fact: It is practiced but very little in the United States to date. There are very 
few nurserymen that mention the subject at all and some are finding fault with the 
method of plant selection, I am very sorry to say, and claim that there is no way on 
earth to improve a variety except to improve the soil conditions. 
Now my method is to select all my plants for my breeding plot, selecting only the 
plants (that are to become the mother plants) that show extraordinary strength in 
crown growth. These plants are set in what we call a breeding plot. The runner plants 
from these selected plants must inherit from the parent the full strength of the parent 
plant. This selection is carried on from year to year and instead of a variety running 
down it may be built up and greatly improved from year to year until its productiveness 
has been increased even fourfold. 
I have letters on file where my selected Thoroughbred Plants have produced four times 
that of plants with no selection (Same variety tested). 
A Texas Grower says: ‘Your plants produced over 10,000 quarts per acre when the 
average in this section was less than 2,500 quarts of the same variety’ (the Klondyke 
was the variety in question). 
To any fair minded man this method of breeding and selection is plain and simple. 
A variety may be built up, or may be run down, just as one has a choice. Taking the 
plants from the middle of the rows year after year without any selection will certainly 
eause a fellow not te need many pickers and his crate bill will also be light. If he fol- 
lows the Twentieth Century ideas, he will have to look out for more pickers, and his 
expenses for crates, etc., will be greatly increased. My Dear Growers, it is up to you. 
You may have seen the going of many good varieties, you say. So you have. And 
you can see the going of them all if you practice our old methods. 
You may go get the old, run-down variety and use the up-to-date 20th Century meth- 
ods and bring it back to its former productiveness, and even keep on and make it more 
productive than it was when first originated. 
You do not have to buy plants from me or any other nursery that is using the plant 
selection breeding method, but you can do the same work if you follow my instructions 
as I am trying to give them. But I wish to impress on your mind with all the power at 
my command: If you are going to place your order with a plant grower for your stock 
of plants with which you expect to grow a crop from to support your family or probably 
pay off that mortgage, buy your plants from a nursery that uses plant selection for its 
foundation. We come to the third: 
