10 Allen's Book of Berries — 19B0 



plants do not become crowded too thickly on the bed. If the plants can be 

 spaced in training them so that each plant is a few inches from any other 

 plant, but with a well filled-in row 15 to 18 inches wide, you will have a very 

 favorable condition for getting large crops of fancy berries. Of course, a 

 wider bed is O.K. where the rows themselves are set 4 feet or more apart, 

 and a narrower bed might be m.ore desirable where the rows were only 3^ 

 feet apart. But in any case, make sure of your fruiting bed by letting the 

 first runners root, cutting off surplus late runners, if desirable. 



If you desire to use the hill system, the plants should be set considerably 

 closer together and all the runners kept off. We feel that the hill system, if 

 used at all, should be only in cases where the ground is very limited or per- 

 haps with the Everbearing varieties. 



Manure and Fertilizer. Barnyard manure spread broadcast on the land 

 after it is plowed and thoroughly disced in is the best thing you can do to 

 add fertility to the land and to get a better growth of strawberry plants 

 and fruit. However, this is not necessary. Green manure crops and fer- 

 tilizer will give very good results. We have had some remarkable results 

 in plant growth from using a mixture composed of 1,500 pounds dissolved 

 bone and 500 pounds of acid phosphate. The analysis of this mixture is 

 about 3-10-0. Use about 500 or 600 pounds of this per acre in the drill 

 before the plants are set, or alongside of the plants, and thoroughly work 

 in with hoe or cultivator soon after setting the plants. Where applied in 

 the drill, it should be worked in thoroughly, going, at least, twice to each 

 row with a horse and cultivator to mix it in. If applied broadcast, 1,000 

 pounds per acre of this mixture thoroughly harrowed in before the plants 

 are set can be used to advantage. Not more than 500 or 600 pounds of this 

 mixture should be used per acre in the drill. We have seen 1,000 pounds 

 per acre used in the drill with the result that a great many of the plants 

 were killed by the fertilizer. 



As a top dressing to be used in late summer, or in early spring before 

 growth starts, we have seen 4-8-4 and 7-6-5 fertilizer give excellent results. 



In every dry season on very light soil, we have seen fertilizer applied in 

 early spring cut down the yield by producing a heavy growth of foliage 

 which sucked out the scanty supply of moisture. Moist soil, full of humus 

 or naturally springy, would have made the fertilizer application a paying 

 investment even that year. 



Nitrogen and phosphorus seem to be the most necessary elements for 

 plant and fruit growth, but potash probably helps with the coloring of the 

 berries and their shipping qualities. 



Except in very acid soil, lime should not be used for strawberries. An 

 excess of lime in the soil is likely to have a very detrimental effect on the 

 growth of the plants. 



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. In our price-list,^ perfect flowering 

 varieties are followed by "per" and imperfect varieties by "imp." 



Mulching. A mulch is applied foi one or all of three reasons : First, 

 to protect the plants from freezing and thawing of the soil in winter ; 

 second, to keep the soil cool and moist during the season when fruit is being 



