6 
THE W. F. ALLEN CO., SALISBURY, MD. 
Picking: Big Joe—One of the Best 
CULTURAL DIRECTIONS 
Strawberries will thrive in any type of soil that is not 
dry sand or waterlogged clay. They will often give 
good crops in soils that have been given poor prepara¬ 
tion. But, like other crops, they respond quickly to 
good cultivation. 
One of the first essentials in producing a crop of ber¬ 
ries is plenty of moisture. Springy land that is well 
drained is therefore the best type of soil. But on other 
types water can be conserved by cultivation or by 
mulching, or in most cases there may be enough natural 
rainfall at fruiting time. 
Preparing the Land. Potatoes, tomatoes, beans, cab¬ 
bage, and other truck crops usually leave the ground in 
excellent condition for Strawberries. This is because 
they are kept well cultivated for a good part of the sea¬ 
son and are usually well manured and fertilized. 
In all cases, sod land should be avoided for Straw¬ 
berries, as the white grubs winter over in such land 
and cut off young plants when set the following spring. 
If you have no other land available, plow the land dur¬ 
ing the fall and many of the grubs will be killed out 
during the winter. 
We believe the best preparation for strawberries un¬ 
der our conditions is as follows. Whatever the preced¬ 
ing crop, plow the land in fall or winter, spread broad¬ 
cast with stable manure (8-15 tons per acre). Disc this 
in. In the spring plow the land again if it has become 
hard. If it is still in good condition for planting run 
the rows (a three furrowed list leveled off by raking or 
dragging will put it in nice condition for planting' If 
in some cover crop like clover, rye, etc., we would app A y 
the manure whenever available and plow under as 
early in spring as possible. 
Time to Plant—Important. In the extreme South 
stock plants, free from nematode and rust, should be 
planted in February, March, or early April. In the 
middle states, March and April are the best planting 
months. In the North— April. Plant in early spring, 
just as soon as you can get your ground in condition. 
This gives plants as long a growing season as possible 
and the plants are set and growing before hot, dry 
weather comes on. Be sure to have your plants on hand 
when you are ready for them. Have your plants ship¬ 
ped early (not later than April 15 to 20—earlier if pos¬ 
sible) and heel them in in some protected place and 
cover with straw until you can plant. 
