IT’S ALL IN THE GROWING 
To the home gardener berries of surpassing size and quality are 
possible, because extra care and attention can be given. From 
beds planted at this season with plants that are not checked, 
but kept growing in good soil, and given space, there will be 
commensurate returns 
LUSCIOUS STRAWBERRIES FOR YOUR OWN TABLE 
S. A. HAMILTON 
It’s a Matter of Attention to Details Which Are Impossible for the 
Commercial Grower. But the Result Is Surely Worth the Effort 
VV^HEN I built my home in a country town I found that if 
ii mwM * desired to have nice fresh strawberries in season I 
flwlll wouId ^ ave to g rowt hem myself, as the available supply 
uftMW . was small and poor. 
My lot was cut out from the edge of a large Maple grove. 
Suffice it to say here, that the good top-soil was but two inches 
thick. The sub-soil was more than two feet deep, and loose and 
friable, being what was locally known as “ rotten-clay,” a lime- 
stone-clay dessicated by the many roots which had grown 
through it, and the action of time and the elements. 
The clearing away of the portion of the lot to be used for 
Strawberries was begun in mid-summer while the building was 
erecting, as I desired to set out the plants in mid-August. Many 
cart loads of stones, rocks, bits of timber, and roots without 
number were taken out before it was fit for use. During the 
preceding year 1 had started a large compost heap, made from 
soil, sods, grass, manure, bone-meal, and lime, and from this I 
procured enough to put a top-covering of six inches over the 
strawberry patch. This was given a top-dressing of horse man- 
ure from a stable where leaves had been used as bedding, to a 
depth of two inches, and the whole dug in to the full depth of a 
spade, bringing sub-soil to the top. It was given a heavy dust- 
ing with powdered lime (air-slaked) and allowed to lie unraked 
until needed. 
Up to that time I had only grown Strawberries at home on 
the truck-farm in a large way, with horse labor, and with only 
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