54 



S^JALL PjIUIT CULTUKIST. 



A deep soil^ whether it be naturally light or lieayy, is 

 one of the requisites imperatively demanded by the 

 Strawberry. If the soil is naturally yery wet, it may re- 

 quire underdraining ; but there are few farms on which a 

 situation may not be found wiiere deep plowing will not 

 render the soil suitable for a Strawberry bed. Thorough 

 preparation of the soil is the very foundation of success, 

 therefore no slovenly system — such as once plowing and 

 harrowing — should be tolerated ; but the ground should 

 not only be plowed, but cross-plowed, and if not natural- 

 ly deep and friable, it should be subsoiled at least sixteen 

 inches deep. If the cultivator will only bear in mind that 

 one acre prepared in the best manner will produce more 

 fruit than three or four acres fitted as is usually done, he 

 wuU understand the importance of doing it well. 



There is not one acre of Strawberries in a thousand, 

 that yields over one-half that it would if the ground was 

 properly prepared before planting. It is with Straw^berries 

 as with other fruits — too many acres and too little care. 



The situation should be open and airy, because in such 

 there is less danger of injury by late spring frosts. 



To secure early ripening, a southern exposure is pref- 

 erable, and for a late crop a northern one. By planting 

 the earliest varieties m a warm situation, and the latest 

 in a cool one, the season may be considerably lengthened. 



MANURES. 



The Strawberry is not very particular as to the kind of 

 manure it receives, provided it is in sufficient quantities. 

 To tell a man who cultivates the Strawberry on the rich 

 prairie soil of the West that he must apply manure to his 

 soil before planting, would be considered a very foolish 

 recommendation ; but to undertake to grow them on al- 

 most any of our eastern lands without it would be equally 

 absurd. In fact, most of our fruit growers in the E istern 

 States determine their profits in advance, simply by the 



