How early? Just as soon as weather permits 

 getting ground ready. In the South, February and 

 March and early April. In the Middle States, 

 March and April. In the Northern States, April. 



Be sure to order early enough so that plants 

 can be right at hand as soon as your ground is 

 ready. Early setting pays big — the plants start 

 quicker, grow better and make better beds than 

 plants set late. 



When a plant grower in the latitude of New 

 York or Massachusetts can dig plants, berry 

 growers in those sections should be setting their 

 plants. This is a big advantage we can give 

 growers in those latitudes. We can dig and ship 

 plants earlier and have them right at hand for 

 early planting. 



Cultivation and Training. The plants should be 

 cultivated and hoed soon after they have started 

 growth after being set out. It is important at the 

 first hoeing to uncover the buds of any plants 

 which might have been planted too deep. If this 

 is not done very early, these plants will not 

 recover in time to amount to anything, even 

 though they might live along all summer. Culti- 

 vate often enough to keep the surface of the 

 ground from becoming crusted and to keep down 

 the grass and weeds. 



We believe in the well-spaced matted row sys- 

 tem of training strawberries, and with this system 

 the first runners from the plants should be en- 

 couraged to take root, forming from 10 to 20 or 

 even more young plants from each plant set, pay- 

 ing some attention as the hoeing is done to see 

 that the plants do not become crowded too thickly 

 on the bed. If the plants can be spaced in train- 

 ing 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 0. K. where the rows 

 themselves are set 4 feet or more apart, and a 

 narrower bed might be more desirable where the 

 rows are 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 perhaps 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 to get a better 

 growth of strawberry plants and fruit. However, 

 this is not necessary. Green manure crops and 

 fertilizer will give very good results. We have 

 had some remarkable results in plant growth from 

 using a mixture composed of 1,500 pounds dis- 

 solved 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 and not thoroughly mixed 

 with the soil, 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 a very 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 pay- 

 ing investment even that year. 



Nitrogen and phosphorous 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, although this 

 has not been definitely proved. 



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 flower- 

 ing 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 alter- 

 nated 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 for 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 produced; third, to keep 

 berries from being spattered with dirt by rain 

 during fruiting season. 



The mulch should be applied in the fall. In 

 the spring when the plants begin to start, this is 

 raked to the center of the rows or worked down 

 between the plants in the row, and there serves 

 the purpose of retarding the growth of weeds 

 and grass, keeping the ground loose and moist and 

 the fruit clean. Use marsh grass, rye straw, 

 wheat straw or similar material. Coarse manure 

 can be used but any heavy lumps must be beaten 

 up or they will smother the plants in the spring. 



Distance to Plant. We recommend setting the 

 plants in rows ZV2 to 4 feet apart, or even as 

 much as 4*2 feet, if the soil is very fertile. The 

 plants should be set 15 to 20 inches apart in the 

 row, depending on the varieties set, the width of 

 the rows themselves and the fertility of the land. 

 Free growing varieties like Dunlap, Missionary 

 and Aroma which make large number of plants 

 should be set farther apart than varieties like 

 Chesapeake, Mastodon, Lupton and others that 

 make larger plants, but not so many of them. 

 When set in rows 3 feet 8 inches apart and spaced 

 18 to 20 inches apart in the row, it requires about 

 8,000 plants per acre. 



Care of Plants. Set plants on arrival if possi- 

 ble. It will help if roots of the plants can be 

 dipped in water and allowed to "plump up" for 

 sometime before setting, perhaps over night. At 

 any rate have them thoroughly moistened when 

 planting. If anything prevents immediate plant- 

 ing and the weather is cool, the top of the crate 

 should be taken off and the plants loosened in the 

 crate, still keeping the roots covered with the 

 packing material. Placed where it is cool, plants 

 will keep like this for two or three days. If 

 weather is too warm to keep plants, or too cold 

 to set them out they should be heeled in in some 

 shaded or protected place. Dig a V-shaped trench, 

 open the bundles, spread them out in thin layers 

 with buds just even with the surface of the ground 

 and firm the soil back against the roots of the 

 plants. If necessary several layers of plants can 

 be heeled in the same place with one or two inches 

 of soil between each layer. Wet the soil and 

 plants thoroughly when heeling is done. (See 

 illustration, page 13.) 



