Manure and Fertilizer 
The best fertilizer for a Strawberry patch is thor- 
ough cultivation. Barnyard manure is the very best 
fertilizer that you can apply to the field. This is 
applied either broadcast before the land is plowed, 
or asa top-dressing after the plants are set. Apply- 
ing before plowing is adapted more to heavy soils 
and top-dressing more to light soils. Cover crops 
(see page 4) are valuable to grow and incorporate 
in any soil, whether heavy or light. Commercial 
fertilizers will often prove beneficial. Nitrate of 
soda is probably the quickest acting fertilizer; it is 
especially valuable for use on old beds in preparing 
for second or third crop. 
Potash adds color to the berries and makes them 
more firm. There is some potash in most soils and 
good berries can usually be grown without apply- 
ing it, although potash would probably make the 
crop better. Present war prices of potash, however, 
prohibit its use as a fertilizer. Not having potash 
to include, a good application to make in the spring 
would be 150 pounds of dried blood or fish, and 300 
| 
pounds of bone meal, or rock phosphate per acre. | 
Enough filler should be added to this 450 pounds so | 
it can be mixed and applied evenly. Be very careful | 
about putting commercial fertilizer under plants | 
before setting. In dry seasons fertilizer drilled in 
before planting burns and kills thousands of plants. 
Top-dressing is more satisfactory. Lime is beneficial 
to Strawberries in cases where water stands on land 
in winter and makes it excessively acid. To correct 
this, drain land and apply 400 to 500 pounds of lime 
to the acre, being careful to give uniform distri- 
bution: 
Mulching 
A mulch is applied for one or all of three reasons: 
First, to protect the plants from freezing and thaw- 
ing of the soil in winter; second, to keep the soil 
cool and moist during the season when fruit is 
being produced; third, to keep the berries from 
being spattered with dirt during the spring rains. 
In the North it is important to apply a mulch for 
winter protection. In the spring when plants begin 
to start, this is raked to the center of the rows and 
there serves the purpose of keeping the ground loose 
and moist and the fruit clean. In the South, when 
a mulch is used, it need not be applied until just 
before the buds start in the spring. In irrigated 
sections of the West the mulch is not needed for 
winter protection and is frequently not used at all. 
Renewing the Old Bed 
1. As soon as the fruiting season is over, plow the 
open spaces between the rows, cutting the bed to 
about 12 to 15 inches. Then make a liberal appli- 
cation of manure, throwing most of it into the | 
furrows on each side of the row of plants. Work the 
soil back into the furrows with a cultivator. Then 
with a hoe cut out all old plants and thin out some 
of the others, if the row is thick. Enough young 
plants will start out to produce the next crop. 
2. Another method is to cut off the old leaves 
with a mowing machine. This clears out all the 
dead foliage, but does not hurt the crowns. After 
it is well dried, rake the rubbish to one side and burn 
it. This cleans the bed, makes it work easier, destroys 
all insect pests and plant diseases, and restores some 
potash to the soil. After this, the plants are culti- 
vated and hoed the same as in a new bed. For 
second crop under the hill system, trim the plant 
closely after fruiting, and keep the soil worked. New 
roots will form, and the same plant with new roots 
will produce a second crop. 
THE W. F. ALLEN CO., SALISBURY, MD. 
In the single-hedge system leave young plants in 
the rows the same distance apart as the original 
plants, chop out the others, and then treat as a newly 
set patch. In the triple hedgerow, plow off two out- 
side rows and proceed as with the single hedge, 
allowing runners to grow and form the two outside 
hedgerows, as in the first year after planting. 
Perfect and Imperfect Varieties 
It is well known that some varieties of Straw- 
berries, if planted alone, will produce only small, 
knotty fruit. Others will produce a few good berries 
and many poor ones. Still others, planted alone, 
will bear a good crop of perfect fruit. This is due 
to the fact that the blossoms of some varieties have 
only the female parts (or pistils); others have pistils 
and enough male parts (or stamens) to produce a 
little pollen; and still others have pistils and plenty 
of stamens and ample pollen for fertilizing the pistils. 
Perfect. The blossoms of a_perfect-flowering 
variety contain both male and female parts and 
will produce a crop of berries without being pollen- 
ized by any other variety. In our price-list these 
varieties are followed by ‘‘Per.” 
Imperfect. The blossoms of an imperfect-flowering 
variety have only the pistils and will not produce a 
crop of fruit without being fertilized by the pollen 
of some perfect-flowering variety. These varieties 
are followed by “Imp.”’ in our price-list. In some 
cases there are only a. few stamens produced and 
we have marked them “Imp.,’”’ unless there are 
enough to pollenize the pistils properly and produce 
perfect fruit. Imperfect varieties as a rule are heay- 
ier producers than perfect ones and not so suscep- 
tible to injury by late frosts. 
It is a good idea to have more than one variety of 
perfect as well as imperfect kinds in the field, as an 
exchange of pollen even between perfect sorts is 
beneficial and tends to produce better fruit and 
larger yields. We are always ready and anxious to 
help you in the selection of varieties and give spe- 
cific information about the mating of different 
varieties, whenever such information is desired. 
Number of Plants Required to 
Set an Acre of Ground at a 
Given Distance 
Rows 24 ins. apart, plants 12 inches in row, 21,780 
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