QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 
Q. What is the best way to prepare land for straw- 
berries on a commercial scale? Does it pay to use Im- 
perfect flowering varieties when you can get perfect 
flowerings beds just as good? When is best time to top 
dress strawberry beds for spring crop? J. H.R. Ill. 
Ans. For commercial planting, | recommend that 
Strawberries should follow some crop such as Peas, Po- 
tatoes, or other truck crops where the land has been 
manured heavily the year before for these crops, unless 
new land is prevailable. It is best to plow the land in 
the late fall for strawberries and leave in the rough 
during the winter. Top work it over until it is in fine 
shape, then mark out the rows the desired width with 
a marker. 
It is best plan to have a cultivator with two back 
teeth in the rear only, wide enough to make a slight 
ridge down the mark. This prevents the planters from 
getting plants below the level of the earth, and is also 
to advantage when giving the first two cultivations, as 
the plants are not easily covered with the cultivators 
and also the first hoeing is made much easier, after 
striking off the little ridge the plants are left level 
with the earth as they should be. Plants should be kept 
as near level as possible during the whole season, and 
at the last working put on a large tooth in the middle 
at rear end of cultivator, taking off the two front teeth. 
This leaves a good trench to take the water from the 
beds during the winter months. 
As to using Imperfect varieties will say that it is a 
fact that many of our best varieties are Pistillates, or 
Imperfect flowering varieties and should be used by 
many growers. While of course any grower can choose 
for himself as to planting them. We believe they are 
advantageous in many ways. For one thing where 
the strawberry beetle is a pest the beetle has never been 
known to bother an Imperfect blossom. Second, by 
proper pollenization, the Imperfect varieties are alwavs 
better than the varieties they are pollenized with. For 
instance when Premier, Big Late, and Ford are set in 
a field together, Big Late in the middle of every plot 
of ten rows, the Big Late inherits from the two Perfect 
varieties all the good characteristics of the perfects, 
making it the equal of, if not the superior of the trio. 
On the other nand if you used a variety with Big Late 
like Glen Mary, or Tenn. Prolific, you would have the 
Big Late fall down in quality to the equal of the Glen 
Mary. 
Best time to top dress for the spring fruiting crop is 
just before any new growth starts out in the Spring. 
Usually a 5-8-5 is the best fertilizer. Chicken manure 
and Acid Phosphate equal parts at the rate of one ton 
per acre, if convenient. 
_Mr. John Trabue, Paris, Ky. Strawberry plants re- 
ceived from you in March have made a fine showing. 
IMPORTANT QUESTION ANSWERED 
Q. Is it safe to take plants from an old fruiting 
bed to set a new bed? Also from Everbearing plants 
that has fruited heavily all summer? J. L.S., Kansas. 
Ans. Absolutely not; nothing but one year plants 
that have never fruited should be used for setting a 
new bed, and it is important that the Mother plant 
should have never fruited. After a strawberry plant 
has once fruited, it has been exhausted of its fruiting 
power and will not produce strong offsprings for fur- 
ther propagating purposes. 
It is just as important with the everbearing varie- 
ties, as the standards and the everbearing plants that 
are to be used for propagating purposes should be kept 
from fruiting just as much as possible. The fruiting 
of the everbearing accounts for many failures in grow- 
ing everbearing strawberries. I am sorry to say, but 
most of the plant growers who are offering everbearing 
plants for sale, let their Nursery plants fruit during 
the summer and market the fruit in great quantities. 
The first Champion plants that we bought had fruited 
a record breaking crop the summer and fall before, 
hence our plants were of inferior quality and made a 
very poor showing the first year. It is the same with 
every variety. Absolutely no fruiting should be allowed 
on plants that are to be used for propagating purposes. 
Mr. John W. Brown, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, wrote 
us that from the 1000 Progressive purchased from us 
and set in the same plot with a 100% purchased from an 
Iowa Nurseryman, produced four times “is many berries 
as the Iowa plants. Townsends plants are ali dug from 
new beds that have never fruited, and the Mother plants 
set out came from a strain that has been built up for 
the highest fruiting power by fully selecting every year 
and grown in beds that were not allowed to mat. Each 
plant getting plenty room and light so as to build up a 
strong fruiting system. All Townsens plants are built 
for production and not for runner making. It is from a 
few fruitful plants in a bed that give the heavy yield, 
and not from the thickly matted row of barren plants. 
This method is the secret of our success, and is the 
cause of our adding thousands of new customers every 
year. Townsends plants hold the world’s record for 
hardiness and productiveness. 
Townsend’s Nurseries is situated in a part of the 
country so that we can give our customers shipment of 
their orders whenever they want their plants shipped. 
Our shipping season is from October 1st until May 1st, 
and sometimes as late as May 15th, but we do not rec- 
ommend plants being set out in any territory after 
May 10th, as early shipments are always the best, and 
the earlier strawberry plants can be set the better the 
crop. 
For example: We shipped two customers in Pa., 
plants on same day, one set his plants out next day and 
had the best of success. The other party waited two 
weeks before setting his plants and he had a complete 
failure. The first man set his plants April 22nd, the 
other two weeks later. It is always easy to get plants 
to grow that are set out early enough. And always 
hard to get them to grow when set out too late in sea- 
son. 
Best plan is to place orders early, and have plants 
shipped a week earlier than you expect to be able to 
plant so you will have them on hand when the planting 
day comes. 
