DEC S 1939 
.A4oU 
CdA 
A field of Strawberries as grown by one of our customers 
' 
Suggestions for Planting Strawberries 
F ALL the small-fruits the Strawberry is probably of the greatest commercial importance 
in this country. There is no plant that adapts itself so well to all conditions and to all 
sorts of soil, whether loam, sand or clay. Good drainage is absolutely essential, but the 
plants should have a liberal supply of moisture at fruiting season, therefore a “springy” 
soil is to be preferred. Avoid setting the plants in land that has been for a long time in 
grass, for in such places you will find the larvae of the May beetle, which are extremely 
destructive to small plants. The soil cannot be made too fertile, and the richer it is made 
and the more humus you can get into it, the better will be the crop. Stable manure is prob- 
:rtilizer that can be used, although there is an objection on account of the grass seeds which 
may be brought in. If commercial fertilizer is used it can be made at home, and the following formula is 
probably the best: Acid phosphate (16 per cent), 900 lbs.; nitrate of soda, too lbs.; fish-scrap, 600 lbs.; 
sulphate of potash, 400 lbs. This will make a ton. This fertilizer should be applied broadcast and worked 
well into the soil before the plants are set, or applied as a top-dressing and worked into the soil after the 
plants have started to grow. Don’t put directly under the plants when setting, as thousands upon thou¬ 
sands of Strawberry plants have been killed in this way, and the one furnishing the plants accused of fur¬ 
nishing poor stock. We repeat, don’t put commercial fertilizer directly under Strawberry plants, when 
setting. 
In the middle and northern states Strawberries should be planted in the spring. In the southern states 
fall and spring planting are both practicable. The plants should be set as early in spring as the soil can be 
worked, the earlier the better. If the plants are grown in matted rows, a distance of 3% feet between 
the rows is best, but if for garden culture they can be set in hills 15 inches by 3 feet. If plahted in this 
latter way, and the runners are kept off, you can get large crops of berries. For field culture the matted 
row is a method in general use. In large plantings furrows are run from 33^ to 4 feet apart, and another 
furrow thrown from each side, making a small ridge, which should be raked flat enough so that the plants 
will be level after first cultivation. This gives you a good, mellow bed for planting. The plants are set in 
this row, and it is especially important that they be set at the proper depth. The crown of the roots should 
be even with the surface of the soil, and the earth pressed firmly about them. Some growers set plants as 
close as 15 inches in the rows, but the usual distance is from 20 to 24 inches. 
Strawberry plants bear pistillate and staminate blossoms, and in planting pistillate varieties a row of 
the staminate sorts should be set about every fourth or fifth row. Some commercial growers recommend 
planting the perfect-flowering sorts every third row. 
It is advisable in the middle states and in the North in general to protect the plants in winter. A mulch 
of wheat-straw or salt meadow-hay in the late fall should be applied, just enough to cover the crowns of 
the plants. With the earliest start of the leaves in the spring, the mulch should be pulled back from the 
plants and left on the beds to keep the fruit clean. After the mulch is off, and before the fruiting season, 
keep a sharp lookout for weeds that will start in the rows. After the plants have fruited, if the beds are to 
be carried over for a second crop, cultivation should be started at once and continued the balance of the 
season. 
OI TR TFC1T1MONI Af Every testimonial in this catalogue was sent us without solicitation. 
A 1 tlTlvyillrVLiO. \y e never ask for them, but we appreciate them all the more. We 
shall be pleased to have you read them, and you will then understand why we have so many friends 
who recommend us to other friends who want plants. We wish we had room for more — we have 
hundreds of them. 
ablv the best 
