e 
ALLEN’S BOOK OP BERRIES 
keeps a “dust blanket” over the soil and prevents evap¬ 
oration. So, even if no weeds or grass have started, it 
is advisable to cultivate frequently. 
A hoe and 12-tooth cultivator are the best tools to 
use. In general, the patch should be cultivated every 
ten days, or two weeks anyway. Skilful use of the 
cultivator will make necessary much less hand-labor. 
Young plants, set out in early spring, will blossom 
freely at the regular blossoming season and, if not cut 
off, will set and bear quite a few berries. But it is 
best to cut these blossoms off so that the plants can 
make a more vigorous growth and be in better shape 
to bear a full crop of fine fruit the following spring. 
Manure and Fertilizer. The best fertilizer for a 
strawberry patch is thorough cultivation. Barn-yard 
manure is the best fertilizer that you can apply to the 
field. It can be applied broadcast, as a top-dressing 
after plants are set, or on the young beds in the fall. 
If handled this way, it acts as a mulch during the win¬ 
ter and is very beneficial to the plants in spring. Under 
present conditions, the most beneficial commercial fer¬ 
tilizer would be 150 pounds of dried blood, or fish, and 
300 pounds of bonemeal, or ground phosphate, to the 
acre. Apply this broadcast, before plants are set, or 
as a top-dressing afterwards. Never put in a furrow 
under the plants. 
PERFECT AND IMPERFECT VARIETIES 
Perfect flowering varieties planted alone will mature 
a crop of perfect fruit. Imperfect flowering varieties 
should have perfect varieties planted with them, at 
least one row for every five or six. When two varieties 
are used in equal amounts, they are often alternated 
three or four rows of each. In our price-list, perfect 
flowering varieties are followed by “per”—imperfect 
flowering varieties by “imp.” 
MULCHING 
A mulch is applied for one or all of three reasons: 
First, to protect the plants from freezing and thawing 
of the soil in winter; second, to keep the soil cool and 
moist during the season when fruit is being produced; 
third, to keep the berries from being spattered with dirt 
during fruiting season. 
The mulch should be applied in the fall. In the spring 
when plants begin to start this is raked to the center 
of the rows and there serves the purpose of retard¬ 
ing the growth of weeds and grass, keeping the ground 
loose and moist and the fruit clean. Use coarse 
manure, marsh grass, rye straw or similar material. 
STARTING RIGHT 
Start right—get the best plants possible for setting. 
The best strawberry plants are those that are dug from 
young beds that have never fruited, that have the best 
rodt system and the largest and strongest crowns, that 
are hardy in all strawberry sections, and are absolutely 
true-to-name. Allen’s plants measure up to this STAND¬ 
ARD OF THE BEST. 
1. Young Beds. All our plants are dug from beds 
that have never fruited. 
2. Root-System. Our plants are grown in a light, 
sandy loam soil. In this type of soil any plant can 
develop its root-system to the fullest degree. And, 
having a light soil, we can dig plants without 
breaking off any of the great bunch of roots. With 
plants grown in heavier soils, the roots cannot pene- 
