Big Crops of Berries 
The Total Yield of Berries in the Spring is Governed by the Number of 
Leaves Per Plant the Preceding Fall 
In experiments on controlled leaf area reported in 1934 by Darrow 
'(U.S.D.A.) and Beaumont (Maryland), they found the same results 
with ten different varieties. The larger the number of leaves per plant 
during the fall the larger the crop the following spring. It seems logical, 
therefore, to follow cultural practices that will help obtain the largest 
possible leaf area per plant. Here are some of the most important of 
these cultural practices. 
1. Select good soil for your strawberry planting 1 and give it careful prepa- 
ration. 
2. Get good plants to start with and set them at the earliest possible date. 
The benefits of early setting as well as the soil and its preparation are discussed 
more fully under "Common Sense Methods," pages 7 to 11. 
3. Save the first runners. Careful experiments conducted in Ohio in 1928 
show that runner plants made in June yielded as much as fifteen times as many 
berries as those set in September and October. 
4. Some attention to thinning or spacing will pay. Do not be too fussy 
about exact distances but make some attempt to restrict the number of plants 
made. Two well developed plants per square foot of row are about ideal but 
four to six is a good goal at which to aim. Keep in mind that this spacing is 
merely to give room for the development of the large individual plants, crowns 
and leaf area. A row spaced, no matter how carefully, with small, poorly de- 
veloped plants will not mean much. These other principles must be followed 
in order to help the plants make use of the benefits of spacing. Not only do 
spaced rows give a greater total yield of fruit, but produce berries of a much 
larger average size and better shipping grade. 
5. Encourage fruit hud formation which occurs in late August, September 
and October, depending on the latitude. This holds for nearly all regions except 
far south. A large leaf area per plant is practically always accompanied by 
large, strong crowns, which by frosty weather are chock-full of fruit buds for 
next year's crop. An application of Nitrate of Soda, tankage, or mixed fertilizer 
containing a high percentage of Nitrogen applied in late summer will be a big 
help in encouraging fruit bud formation and building up a large leaf area per 
plant. 
6. Apply mulch if needed and do it early enough. Having obtained the 
greatest development of leaf area and crowns, protect them with a mulch in 
regions where winters are severe. Apply the mulch before hard freezing. Ex- 
periments during the last two hard winters indicate that much winter injury to 
both crowns and roots occurs during the first hard freeze in the fall. (See page 11) 
Allen's Plants in the North 
We are often asked _if our plants will do well 
in the North. By way of answer we call atten- 
tion to the fact that we sell thousands of plants 
every year to our most northern states and Can- 
ada. Evidence that they are satisfactory is sup- 
plied by the fact that we get repeat orders from 
the states, and also by the letters like those 
printed below. Notice also that many of the other 
letters from growers are from Northern states. 
New York 
Orleans Co., N. Y., April 9th, 1936. I have grown 
strawberries over thirty years and I have reason 
to say that I never received as good a lot of 
plants from anyone and I have had them from 
the west and east and north but never quite as 
good as yours. — Mr. A. T. Filer. 
Minnesota 
Roseau Co., Minn., April 20th, 1936. Even up 
here in the North Pole your plants stand the 
climate. Sure have had luck with them. We 
are in the most northern part of the U. S. A. 
— Mr. Frans Franson. 
Iowa 
Clarke Co., Iowa, March 30th, 1936. The plants 
I got of you last spring look fine. They had 
about three feet of snow on them all winter up 
until a month ago. I would like to try Catskill 
and if suitable for this climate and as satisfac- 
tory as Dorsett and Fairfax shall put out lots 
more next year. I shall always get my plants 
from Allen as they are best and true to name. 
— Mr. D. L. Hoepner. 
13 
