Allen’s Book of Berries for 1914 
SOME 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 reasonable amount of moisture. 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 probably the best fertilizer 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, 100 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 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 thousands of Strawberry plants have been killed in this 
way, and the one furnishing the plants accused of furnishing poor stock. I repeat, don’t put commercial 
fertilizer directly under Strawberry plants when setting. 
In the middle states and north, Strawberries should be planted in the spring. In the southern states 
fall and spring planting are both practical. 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 3K feet between 
the rows is best, but if for garden culture they can be set in hills 2 by 3 feet. If planted 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 3^ 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 on this ridge, 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 sixth or eighth row. Some commercial growers recommend 
planting the perfect-flowering sorts every two or three rows.. 
It is advisable in the middle states and in the North in general to protect the plants in winter. A 
mulch of wheat-straw 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, 
the space between the rows should be cultivated to prevent 
evaporation of moisture, keep the plants growing and kill weed 
growth. And this loose mulch should be maintained through 
the remainder of the season. 
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Rewatisco. A valuable berry, and I want my customers to try it (See next page) 
