overcoming unfavorable conditions and in starting 
growth and runner production quicker, as well as 
helping Everbearers develop the vigor required to 
produce a crop of fruit so quickly after being set. 
This has much added importance when the extra 
fruitfulness of early formed runner plants is considered. 
Training 
We believe the well spaced matted row is the best 
system for getting the largest crops of the best berries. 
From four to six plants per square foot are ample for 
fine results. If it can be done economically it will pay 
berry growers to use some method which will prevent 
thickly matted rows. 
Advantages of Spacing 
Fields that have been restricted to a maximum of 
six to eight plants per square foot of row have the fol- 
lowing advantages over fields where plants are very 
thickly set. 
The total yield will be larger. 
The berries will be much larger in average size. 
They will stand wet weather with less rotting. 
Berries will not run down in size as fast, especially 
in dry seasons. 
Mulching materials can be used more effectively. 
Conditions for perfect pollenation of the blossoms 
are more favorable. 
Berries are better in quality. 
Berries are easier to pick, resulting in less over-ripe 
berries. 
Spacing will pay if the cost can be kept fairly low. 
Spacing Methods 
Spacing, to be profitable must cost less than the in- 
creased returns. With this in mind we suggest that 
growers should not be too fussy about exact distances 
in spacing. However, some attempt should be made 
to restrict the number of plants when their number 
becomes excessive. The following simple practices 
have been found helpful. 
Much spacing and thinning can be done when the 
plants are hoed without very much extra cost. A 
better job is done if those who do the hoeing can be 
made to realize that extra plants over four to six per 
square foot are nothing but weeds and are just as 
harmful. 
Growers should avoid close horse cultivation after 
runners have formed to prevent crowding late set 
runners back into the row. 
If the row is kept open wider rows will mean more 
good berries. After the desired width of the row has 
been obtained, late runners on the sides may be cut 
off with a rolling cutter attached to the cultivator. 
After the early plants which form the spaced rows 
have become established, a light rake or harrow may 
be dragged across the beds to pull late runners to the 
sides of the row. They can then be cut off with the 
rolling cutter run first on one side of the row and then 
the other. Some commercial growers are using this 
method with free growing varieties like Blakemore and 
Dorsett. 
Mulching 
A mulch is applied for one or all of several reasons: 
First, to guard against winter injury to roots and crowns 
by protecting them from the extremely low winter 
temperatures. Second, to avoid lifting the plants by 
the freezing and thawing of the soil in winter. Third, 
to keep the soil cool and moist and to retard or check 
growth of weeds and grass during the season when fruit 
is being produced. Fourth, to keep berries from being 
spattered with dirt by rain during fruiting season. 
Fifth, by delaying blooming it tends to prevent injury 
by frost in the spring. 
Time of Application. Experiments have shown 
that plants gain in hardiness during the winter and are 
much more resistant to low temperatures in March 
than in November. Thus the mulch can be applied 
early and removed early even before the last freezes 
are over unless it is left to delay blooming either to 
escape late frosts or to aim for a better late berry 
market. 
Dr. Roberts' experiments in Wisconsin, reported in 
1933, indicated that the common practice of applying 
the mulch after the ground is hard frozen makes the 
work easier but may be too late to be fully effective. 
He obtained complete protection from an application 
made before first, freezing weather but much injury to 
both crowns and roots from an equally heavy applica- 
tion two weeks later after a freeze had occurred. 
Generally speaking, mulches are not needed for 
winter protection South of Washington, D. C. Also 
the danger from partial smothering is greater unless 
watched carefully. In some sections of the South a 
mulch of light straw or pine needles is applied after 
cultivation in the spring to give the other benefits of 
mulching if winter protection is not needed. 
The amount of mulch required varies from one to 
four tons per acre. In removing the mulch the larger 
amounts should be raked up and removed from the 
field. The smaller amounts may be pulled to the center 
between the rows with enough left on them to work 
down between the plants in the row. 
The practice of leaving a mulch on to avoid late 
frosts involves much risk, and should be attempted 
only by experienced growers or on a small scale. 
_ Materials. Wheat straw and marsh grass are con- 
sidered the best materials, but rye, pine needles, coarse 
strawy manure and various kinds of hay or roughage 
can be used to advantage. A good practice is to use 
the materials which are readily available at a reasonable 
price. 
Irrigation 
Various forms of irrigation are used by growers in 
different sections. Any method which economically 
supplies needed water, especially just before fruiting 
time, will be helpful and worth while for strawberries. 
However, it is not necessary for good results. Most 
of the good berry crops in this country are produced 
on good strawberry land that has been well filled with 
organic matter by the addition of stable manure or 
green manure crops. 
Perfect and Imperfect Varieties 
Perfect flowering varieties planted alone will mature 
a crop of perfect fruit. Imperfect flowering varieties 
should have perfect varieties planted with them, at 
least one row for every five or six. When two varieties 
are used in equal amounts, they are often alternated 
three or four rows of each. Alternating plots of differ- 
ent varieties made necessary by one of them being im- 
perfect are a nuisance to the grower at harvest time. 
In our price list perfect flowering varieties are followed 
by "per" and imperfect varieties by "imp." 
Spraying 
Spraying is not usually necessary in growing straw- 
berries successfully. Care in purchasing healthy plants, 
and in selecting varieties immune or resistant to disease 
and insects is much more important. 
Steps Which Lead to Profit 
Select good soil, well filled with organic matter for 
your strawberry planting. Give it careful preparation 
including nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers if needed. 
Choose the best varieties and get good plants 
to start with. Set them as early as the soil can be 
worked. The beneficial results of early setting have 
been thoroughly demonstrated. 
Start cultivation early and save the first run- 
ners. Care should be taken at the first hoeing to 
uncover any buds that are not free. Tests have shown 
that runner plants made in June have yielded as much 
as fifteen times as many berries as those made in 
September and October. 
Some attention to thinning or spacing will pay 
if necessary to prevent plants from becoming thick 
and crowded on the rows. 
Apply fertilizer as a top dressing in late August or 
September except on land that is very rich and the 
beds have made a very vigorous growth. 
Apply a mulch if needed and do it early enough. 
Good crops of nice berries can almost always be 
made to yield a profit, if they are picked carefully 
and marketed intelligently. 
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