Culture Directions (continued) 
Fertilizer and Manure—Well rotted stable 
manure, compost or similar materials are very 
good for strawberries, this may be applied 
just before soil is prepared or if used on pre- 
ceeding crop results are practically as good. 
Commercial fertilizers give good results and 
are used by practically all the large growers. 
Care must be taken in applying, to avoid in- 
jury when applied before planting, work in 
thoroughly and wait at least a week before 
setting. In top dressing apply evenly and 
brush off any that may be on leaves. Do not 
apply more than 700 Ibs. per acre per appli- 
cation. Mixtures containing Nitrate of Soda, 
Sulphate of Ammonia or potash salts, must 
be applied very carefully as these materials 
will injure plants and often kill them outright 
if in direct contact with the roots. Straw- 
berries require very little potash thus this 
element may be omitted or used sparingly. 
Chicken manure mixed two parts manure to 
one part 16% superphosphate makes a satis- 
factory material but should be applied care- 
fully to avoid injury. Top dressing in late 
Summer will usually increase size and yield 
especially on thin soils. 600 to 800 lbs. per 
acre of a commercial 5-10-4 mixture usually 
gives good results. 
Mating Varieties—All the varieties we offer 
are perfect flowering and will produce a full 
crop when planted alone. 
Muleching—Mulch should be applied at the 
rate of about three ton per acre or 2 inches 
deep, just before the first hard freeze, if pos- 
sible. Straw, strawy stable manure, wild hay, 
marsh grass are materials commonly used. 
Mulching will prevent winter injury and heav- 
ing of the plants from freezing and thawing. 
In the spring as growth starts rake mulch 
into the alleys where it helps to keep the ber- 
ries clean and also conserve moisture. 
Spraying and Dusting—As strawberries are 
seldom subject to any serious damage from 
disease or insects, spraying or dusting are 
not commonly practiced. Setting healthy 
plants of varieties immune or resistant to 
disease is much more desirable. In sections 
where the Weevil (Clipper) prevail they can 
be controlled by dusting the beds just before 
the first buds appear, and again about 10 days 
later with a mixture of 85% Sulphur and 15% 
Arsenate of Lead. 
Summer and Early Fall Planting—There 
are two reasons why Summer and Early Fall 
planting is seldom successful; first, it is al- 
most impossible to get good plants and second: 
even if you get good plants they seldom, if 
ever, give as good results as plants set in the 
early spring. Don’t put off your planting un- 
til Fall. If you do you are almost sure to be 
disappointed. 
Distance To Plant—Plants should be set 15 
to 386 inches apart (distance should vary ac- 
cording to the bedding habit of the variety, 
Chesapeake and other sparce bedders the min- 
imum. Blakemore and similar sorts the max- 
imum) in rows 3% to 4 or even 4)4 feet apart. 
Plants Required Per Acre—To set 15 inches 
apart in rows 34 feet apart an acre will 
require about 10,000 plants; for 3 ft. apart in 
rows 4 feet apart, will require about 3,800 
plants. The most popular planting is from 
7,000 to 8,000 plants per acre. 
Cultivation—Plants should be kept thorough- 
ly cultivated all through the growing season. 
Cultivating at weekly intervals until bed forms 
will greatly reduce the amount of hoeing re- 
quired to keep down weeds. Plants should 
be hoed soon after set and any plants too deep 
or too shallow should be corrected. Hoe and 
cultivate shallow near the plants to avoid dis- 
turbing the roots. In later hoeing, after the 
plant bed is formed, attention should be given 
that the plants do not become too densely set 
in row. especially with varieties such as Blake- 
more, Dorsett and Fairmore. The well spaced 
row will produce more and better fruit. 
Removing Blossoms—Flower stems usually 
appear on strawberry plants soon after they 
are set in the field and as the production of 
fruit is a severe drain on their vitality, the 
flower stems should be removed as they ap- 
pear. With the Everbearers the blossoms 
should be removed until the plants are well 
this will usually require about 
established ; 
sixty days. 
Too Deep 
Just Right 
Too Shallow 
Planting At Proper Depth Very Important 
