Soil Acidity and Lime 
Strawberries grow best in a soil that is 
slightly acid. They grow satisfactorily in soils 
running- from slightly sweet to moderately acid. 
They will hardly grow at all in soils that are 
moderately sweet or very acid. For those famil- 
iar with pH tests for soil acidity we can say 
that the optimum is from 5.7 to 6. The range 
of satisfactory growth is from 5 to 7 and they 
will survive within a range of 4 to 8. Experi- 
ments in Virginia and elsewhere demonstrate 
that strawberries will thrive under more acid 
conditions if there is a large content of organic 
matter. Where strawberries have been planted 
on soils that are quite sweet Ammonium Sul- 
phate should be substituted for Nitrate of Soda 
in fertilizer applications. If lime is to be used 
to correct a very acid condition we would prefer 
to have it applied to the previous crop or at 
least during the fall preceding spring setting. 
Even though strawberries are known as an 
acid soil crop, yet some soils are so acid that an 
application of lime will be of great help. On the 
other hand, unless excessive amounts of lime 
have been added, no soil need be avoided on ac- 
count of its lime content. 
Cultivation 
Uncover the buds. The plants should be culti- 
vated and hoed soon after they have started 
growth after being set out. It is very important 
at the first hoeing to uncover the buds of any 
plants which may have been planted too deep or 
have become covered after planting. If this is not 
done very early many of these plants will die. 
Most of them will not recover in time to amount 
to anything even though they might live all sum- 
mer. On heavy soils this is even more important 
and in some cases is the biggest single factor in 
failing to get a good stand of vigorous growing 
plants. 
Cultivate often enough to keep the surface of 
the ground from becoming crusted and to keep 
down the grass and weeds. It is not necessary to 
practice deep cultivation. A depth of one to one 
and one-half inches is deep enough for the hoe, 
or perhaps slightly deeper with the horse culti- 
vator. Frequent cultivation should be given even 
though weed and grass growth is not a serious 
problem. A survey of strawberry fields in Indi- 
Spacing Plan to Show Method. = Plants Set. 
X = New Runner Plants. Spacing for Profit 
W ould Not Be So Exact. 
Starting the Spaced Row. When Spaces are 
Filled Later Runners Are Cut. 
Section of Spaced Row as it Looks in October. 
Note the Large, Robust Plants. These Crowns 
are Chock Full of Strong Fruit Buds. 
ana reported in 1933, showed that fields which 
were given five hand hoeings and about eight 
horse cultivations produced an average of 125 
24-quart crates per acre, while fields that were 
given 7-7/10 hand hoeings and 14-4/10 horse cul- 
tivations produced 299 24-quart crates per acre. 
This was for the first year. It is likely, however, 
that part of this increase was due to better care 
in other ways as well as more faithful hoeing 
and cultivating. In the South, where mulching 
is not needed for winter protection, cultivation 
in the spring before the mulch is applied has been 
recommended by some. It is important to re- 
member that two cultivations made in time are 
much more helpful and much less work than one 
made after grass and weeds get bad. 
Training 
We believe the well spaced matted row is the 
most desirable system for getting the biggest 
crops of the best berries. From four to six plants 
per square foot are ample for fine results and we 
believe where they can be made early and strong 
plants developed that three or four plants per 
square foot would be even better. We want to 
point out here that we do not believe the average 
grower can afford to be too fussy about spacing 
the plants any particular distance. We do be- 
lieve, however, that the grower (or his help that 
does most of the actual hoeing) should realize 
that from four to six early set runner plants per 
square foot of row is the optimum number and 
that any excess plants made are no better than 
weeds and just as harmful. If this is ~ kept in 
mind and the excess ruthlessly taken out, as 
weeds would be, a great deal can be accom- 
plished with very little extra time and expense. 
The width of the spaced row can be at. the 
grower's option, whether 12, 18, 24 or 30 inches 
wide. 
Mr. Paul Gunby of Somerset County, Maryland, 
is a large and successful grower of strawberries, 
growing mostly Blakemore. Mr. Gunby spaces 
the new runner plants rather carefully about 
8 inches apart until his rows are about two feet 
wide. On the later runners which are produced 
on the Blakemore variety quite freely, he uses a 
hayrake with prongs about four inches apart and 
rakes the runners to one side of the row, then 
cutting them off with a disc attached to the cul- 
tivator. He then reverses the direction of the 
hayrake, pulling runners from the other half of 
the rows and cuts them off with the disc as 
before. 
Thickly set matted rows, although producing 
heavy crops with some varieties, have the fol- 
lowing disadvantages as compared with well 
spaced matted rows. 1. Smaller total yield. 2. 
Smaller average size. 3. Berries rot worse in wet 
seasons. 4. Run down faster in dry seasons. 5. 
Allow less effective use of mulching materials. 
6. Conditions for pollenation more unfavorable. 
7. Berries poor in quality. With thickly set 
matted rows, most growers notice that the larg- 
est and best berries are produced along the edges. 
For this reason the practice of cutting out a 
strip down the center of old beds when renewing 
is often practiced because it gives more edges. 
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