“V6 E. W. TOWNSEND & SON, SQUARE DEAL NURSERY 
Brief Cultural Directions For The New Beginner 
We have no favorites. Every customer is ex- 
tended the same treatment whether the order 
qs a dollar order or a five hundred dollar order, 
In short we could not ask any one of our cus- 
tomers to give us more for our money than we 
give them, if our positions were reversed. 
1S EVERY CUTOMER PLEASED? 
No angel from heaven could 
please everybody. About two kickers in every 
thousand, (but isn’t that fine?). Some few ex- 
pect the plants to be shipped before we get the 
order. Honestly we have received letters and 
orders like this: Dated April 1st, mailed five 
SJundred miles away, giving shipping instructions 
to be shipped April 2nd. We get the order Apr. 
3rd. or 4th; on April 6th we get a letter saying 
we sent you an order about a week ago to ship 
at once. Please send plants at once or return 
the money. What do we do? Fill the order 
fust as it comes in turn—no other way to do. 
A postal is always mailed when an order is re- 
eeived and booked unless the order is going to 
be shipped by Parcel Post same day, then no 
postal is required. Usually the kickers turn out 
-our very best customers in the end, as they get 
fust as good treatment as we can give the rest. 
Strawberries will thrive in most any soil that 
is not too dry or water-soaked, and no crop will 
respond more quickly to good cultivation than 
the Strawberry. Strawberries require a great 
@geal of moisture, especially at fruiting time. 
PREPARING THE SOIL.—Strawberries should 
follow some truck crop if possible. We do not 
recommend planting strawberries after an old 
god -has been turned under, too many grubs are 
likely to destroy the plants. All sod land should 
be plowed at least a year in advance and sowed 
to some vine crop and manured the 
fall or winter before planting to strawberries, 
and.then thoroughly worked up in the spring, 
where it is possible; land that has been manur- 
ed a year in advance makes the. best strawber- 
ries... We do not reccmme d heavy application of 
manure: immediately before planting, and under 
no eircumstanees do we recommend the use of 
ezommercial fertilizer, directly under the plants 
when set. The fertilizer is likely to cause the 
piants to die as soon as the sun gets hot. If 
fertilizer is to be used, broadcast on the land, 
thoroughly work in the land a few weeks be- 
fore setting plants. The finer the condition of 
the soil at planting time the better for the crop. 
If land is hard and cloddy, better roll, <zlso if 
very loose sandy, it is best to roll, as this roll- 
fing holds the moisture that is go much needed 
We answer no! 
_ Mr. Burriil, of Watikkins, N. Y.. sold $64.75 
worth of berries from a Townsend Ever Bearing 
Strawberry Gaden, besides funishing his own 
home with all the berries they could use and 
preserve. 
' sooner 
at this time. 
TIME TO PLANT.—The Fall from November 
Ist to March 30th in the South plants may be 
set any time. In the Middle States,, March and 
first half of April. In the North, as early in 
the Spring as the ground can be worked, th 
the better. Northern customers shoul 
always order their plants shipped at least two 
weeks before they expect to set them out. The 
plants should be healed in a V-shapd trench af- 
ter they have been unpacked and untied, bunch- 
es opened and roots dipped in water. Cover 
with a board to shade the plants and they will 
keep several weeks and be in fine condition to 
plant when the proper day arrives. We ship 
most orders to the far North during last half 
of April. But some of our wisest customers 
order plants shipped during August and Sep- 
tember, we have as good plants at this time as 
any one in the business, but we cannot recom- 
mend the planting at this time, and do not see 
where the gain is in August planting in the 
North. Everbearing plants set in April wil 
fruit just as quick as the August and Septem- 
ber plants, and much less trouble and experse. 
SETTING PLANTS AND MARKING OUT THE 
ROWS. 
After ground is in perfeet condition mark 
rows out with any kind of light marker, that 
will not make too much of a sink in the ground. 
If HILL SYSTEM.—Mark rows 30 inches a- 
part, one way and fifteen inches the other and 
set plants in the check with a spade or trowel, 
being sure to get roots down straight and fan 
shaped, firming ground around plants hard with 
the hand or foot. Some customers write us they 
water the plants when setting them. Don’t 
Do That! Nothing could be more injurious to 
the strawberry plant. Under this system, ‘all 
runner plants are kept cut off and only the . 
plant you set is allowed to grow. Plants grown 
this way grow to be very large and usually 
meet the 15 inch way, and produce more quarts 
of berries per acre than the latter named sys- 
tem. It is easy to grow one quart of berries 
per plant under this system. Fruit will average 
twice as large and sell for more money in the 
markets. We recommend the hill system, as so 
many of our customers have reported such 
large yields from their fields. 
SINGLE HEDGE ROW.—Mark rows thirty 
inches one way, and set plants twenty inches 
apart and allow each plant to make about two 
to four plants. Some very fine berries can be 
grown this way. “. 
DOUBLE HEDGE ROW.—For double hedge 
rows, mark rows thirty six inches one way, two 
rows of plants are set zig zag fashion, and 
each plant is allowed to make only a few 
plants. The object of the double hedge row 
is to get more fruit to the acre than by the 
single hedge row. The center of the bed is 
kept open so as to give the plants air and sun. 
This is one of the intensivie systems and re- 
quires much more work than the other ways, 
and should not be practiced on a large scale. 
THE NARROW MATTED ROW.—Mark sows 
forty inches apart one way; set plants eighteen 
to twenty-four inches apart and allow to grow 
until row is as wide as desired and then keep 
down by cutting runners off the balance of the 
season. Usually ten inches js the desired width. 
This is prohably the most common system of 
growing berries in the large commercial grow- 
ing sections, where fancy fruit is not the parti- 
cular object. Too many plants should never be 
allowed to mat in the bed as their growth is 
only at the expense of the former plants and 
when such crowding is allowed small berries 
and small yields may be expected. One acre 
grown in the proper. way is worth at least two 
grown the wrong way. It takes a strong ro- 
bust plant to make a productive plants it must 
have plenty of room and moisture, if the roots 
are crowded moisture will be lacking. If one 
is not. particular about neither quality or quan- 
tity, strawberries will generally grow with: as 
little attention as any other crop. But we al- 
ways contend that anything that is worth grow- 
ing is worth growing right. and advise our 
