4 
Bulletin 53. 
land be free from weeds and in loose, mellow condition. It is not 
good practice to plant on freshly turned sod; such land should be 
used one season for some hoed crop, which will leave it in good 
condition for strawberries. 
For most soils deep plowing is to be recommended. There is 
an advantage in inducing the plants to root deepl} 7 . The deeply 
loosened soil holds more water, and the plants are less liable to 
injury during scarcity of water. 
LOCATION. 
The location for strawberries should be chosen with particular 
reference to irrigation. Land lying nearly level is to be preferred, 
but gentle slopes can be utilized by planting on contour lines, or in 
such manner that the furrows for irrigating have only sufficient fall 
to move the water slowly without washing the soil. 
Great care snould be taken to have an even surface. High 
points must be lowered and all depressions filled, so that the furrows 
will nowhere overflow and flood the rows. This can be best 
accomplished by the use of a simple box scraper made of plank. 
Generally it is a good plan to plow deeply in the fall. If the soil 
is heavy and inclined to be lumpy it may be best to harrow at once 
after plowing, but with lighter soils this is not necessary. In the 
spring plow again and harrow until the surface is finely pulverized. 
FERTILIZERS. 
Colorado soils are yet new, they have been cropped for only a 
few years, and the question of fertilizers has not yet demanded much 
attention. 
Locally their need is being felt, and no doubt the time will 
come when the problem of the maintenance of soil fertility will be 
as important here as it is now in the older agricultural districts. 
The intelligent application of fertilizers calls for inquiry into all the 
conditions surrounding, not only the locality, but the particular 
piece of soil to which the application is to be made. It is essential 
to know something of the physical condition. Is it heavy clay, or 
light sand? Is it loam or gravel? Is it level or sloping? Is the 
substratum rock or impervious clay, or is it porous gravel? Is the 
soil deep or shallow ? Well drained or inclined to hold the applied 
water ? Knowledge on these points is gained by observation and 
examination, and they are all important, because they have a direct 
bearing upon the kind and quantity of fertilizer, and upon the time 
and manner of its application. As supplementary to a knowledge 
of the physical condition of the soil, it would be well to know some¬ 
thing of its composition as shown by chemical analysis. While I 
do not believe chemical analysis can be taken as an index of the 
producing power of any particular soil, it is valuable in connection 
