TOWNSEND NURSERIES INC. — SALISBURY — MARYLAND 



pSfrawhern] 



ULTURE 



Directions 



Write us if 

 you are con- 

 fronted with 

 any special 

 problems. 



Too deep 



Too high 



VARIETY SE^ECTJON. Perhaps the mpst important task 

 in berry growing is proper variety selection. Every single 

 variety listed in our catalog has been thorughly tested through- 

 out the nation. We will not list a variety until we have had 

 this variety tried for several years, under various conditions. 

 Therefore a careful study of variety recommendations in this 

 catalog will eliminate the possibility of purchasing varieties 

 that are not profit makers if you are growing berries for the 

 commercial market, or a complete success in your home 

 garden. At any time that you are in doubt as to variety 

 selection just write Townsend Nurseries. 



SOIL PREPARATION. Strawberries are very easy to grow, 

 but like other growing plants, prefer fertile soil. Strawberries 

 usually do well after vegetable crops, and we prefer the land 

 to be plowed in late winter or extra early in the spring for 

 commercial plantings. Plantings in the home garden the soil 

 can be plowed or spaded to a depth of about seven inches in 

 the early spring. Potato fields, tomato and bean fields are 

 fine for strawberry growing after these crops. 



Barn-yard manure, of course is fine when broadcasted over 

 the soil in the late fall or winter months and plowed under, 

 or worked throughly into the soil after the land is plowed. 

 We find that a complete fertilizer mixture of about a 4-8-5 

 and 5-10-5 analysis, (either one) applied on the soil after it 

 has been plowed or worked up, at the rate of 1,000 to 1200 

 pounds per acre, and then disced or worked into the soil, AT 

 LEAST TWO WEEKS BEFORE PLANTS ARE SET, three 

 weeks is much better. Now in the home garden this would 

 be applying the fertilizer at the rate of 2V2 pounds per 100 

 square feet, using the same system as described above. After 

 the fertilizer has been applied and worked into the soil for 

 two to three weeks, then you are ready for your plants. 



SET PLANTS IN ROWS. For commercial plantings mark 

 your rows 3V2 feet apart some growers prefer 4 feet, with 

 either a row marker or other equipment suitable. The plants 

 can be set with either a hand trowel, spade, or on a large 

 scale planting with horse drawn transplanters, as well as larger 

 tractor transplanters. Which ever means you set the plants, 

 makes little difference, but always pack the soil firmly around 

 the roots, and set the roots of the plants straight down into 

 the deep soil, keeping in mind that the top of root near the 

 crown of the strawberry plants should be level with the 

 ground, this one point is important, but of course very easy 

 to take care of in the progress of setting plants. 



TIME TO PLANT. Every grower is just about insured with 

 top success with berry plants when they are set into the soil 

 in the very early spring. Meaning that as soon as the first 

 days come along that you can prepare your soil in the Spring, 

 do so, so that your soil will be all ready when the plants 

 arrive, Townsend strawberry plants are hardy, and will with- 

 stand any freezing weather that you might have after trans- 

 planted in the Spring, since our plants are all winter hardened 

 in the fields. 



CARE OF PLANTS ON ARRIVAL. Townsend plants 



come to you properly cleaned, and bunched into neat bundles, 

 ready to set in your garden or field. Our plants are grown 

 on deep loose fertile soil, and the full length of the root system 

 you will receive. When the plants are set with a spade the 

 roots going down straight into the soil, you can leave all the 

 roots on the plant. When the setting is done by a garden 

 trowel or transplanter the roots will have to be trimmed by 

 clipping off a portion of the ends with a sharp knife, leaving 

 the roots about 6 inches long, so they can be planted straight 

 down into your soil. 



Set the plants at once if possible when they arrive, dampen 

 the roots just before setting, and keep the wind and Sun from 

 the roots, by keeping your plants covered and keep them moist. 



In case you cannot set the plants on arrival, then open the 

 package or crate which ever the case may be, and unpack the 

 shipment. Dampen the roots of the plants but not the foliage. 



Keep the plants in a cool place like a cellar for a day or two, 

 if you find that the plants will have to be kept out of the 

 ground longer than two days then place them into cold 

 storage where the temperature is about 32 to 40 degrees. 



All varieties of berry plants that 

 dui 



MATING VARIETIES 



we offer are perfect flowering, and thus will produce a full 

 crop when planted alone. Varieties will not mix, when plant- 

 ed side by side. 



MULCHING STRAWBERRIES 



In regions of heavy snowfall Strawberries should have a 

 mulch to keep the ground from freezing and thawing in 

 early winter and in the spring. In the Northern part of 

 the Middle West all varieties should be protected in the v/inter 

 against severe drying winds, which occur in those regions. 

 A mulch conserves moisture in the spring and in certain 

 localities the crop may be increased from one-third to one-half 

 by its use. 



The mulch should be applied as soon as the ground is 

 frozen from one to two inches deep. In some localities 

 growers have found it unsafe to await freezing weather be- 

 cause of the danger of severe storms or heavy falls of snow 

 which remain throughout the winter, mulch being put on as 

 soon as active growth has ceased. The mulch should be 

 scattered over the fields so that some will fall on the plants, 

 but more of it between the rows. In the spring the plants will 

 grow up through the straw and the berries will be kept clean. 

 If mulch is put on heavy, some of it should be raked off into 

 the middle of rows at time growth starts. Wheat, rye, oats 

 and buckwheat straw are more commonly used. From 3 to 5 

 tons of straw is required per acre. Marsh hay is also used 

 to advantage when obtainable, 1 to 3 tons per acre being re- 

 quired. 



ONE OF THE SECRETS 



In Growing Strawberries 



While there should be no secrets in the growing of Straw- 

 berries when every grower is exchanging ideas with his neigh- 

 bors, there seems to be one point that has not been given 

 enough publicity by the neighbor, journals and nurserymen. 

 With the majority of the plant growers in the North it has 

 always been a practice to hold off setting plants until all frosts 

 and freezing is over. On low springy type soils this probably 

 is a logical practice. However, on land with a good drainage 

 and which dries out early in the spring this practice should 

 not be followed. Strawberry plants, when properly grown and 

 hardened, will stand considerable cold weather after setting. 



• NUMBER PLANTS REQUIRED TO SET AN ACRE 



Number Plants 



Plants Spacing 



Strawberries, Field Culture 8000 SVzxlV? 



Strawberries, Garden Culture 21/2x11/2 



Everbearing Strawberries, Field 8000 31/2x11/2 



Everbearing Strawberries, Garden iVSzxl 



Everbearing, Double Row Hill system I6OOO 21/2x11/2x12 



Blackberries 1700 8x3 



Red Raspberries, Hill System 2400 6x3 



Red Raspberries, Hill System 1800 5x5 



Black Raspberries 1700 7x31/2 



Dewberries, Solid Rows 2400 6x3 



Grapes 490 9x10 



Asparagus 3200 7x2 



9 Complete Culture Guide on Small Fruits Will Be; 

 Sent Free to Anyone Requesting This Booklet 



