4 
J. H. Shivers Plant Farms, Allen, Maryland 
ting" the plants. Where applied in the drill, it should be worked in 
thoroughly, going at least twice to each row with a horse and culti¬ 
vator to mix it in. If applied broadcast, 1,000 pounds or more per 
acre of this mixture thoroughly harrowed in before the plants are set, 
can be used without injury and possibly to advantage. If this amount 
is to be used, however, I would much prefer to put five or six hundred 
pounds in the drill and use the balance as a side dressing in late 
summer. Not more than six hundred pounds should be used in the 
drill. I have used as much as seven hundred pounds without injury, 
but have seen severe injury from 1,000 pounds in the drill, not thor¬ 
oughly mixed with the soil. In no case should nitrate or potash salts 
ever be used in any mixture drilled under the plants. Contact of any 
of these materials with the roots will surely burn them. In the past 
many thousands of plants have been killed by such methods. As a 
top dressing to be used in late summer, or in early spring before 
growth starts, I have seen 4-8-4 and 7-6-5 fertilizer give excellent 
results. In a very dry season on very light soil, I have seen fertilizer 
applied in early spring cut down the yield by producing a heavy growth 
of foliage which sucked out the scanty supply of moisture. 
WHEN TO PLANT 
The best time to plant is sometime during March or April, or as 
soon as ground can be made ready for planting. Order your plants 
as early as possible; plants set early start quicker and make a moore 
vigorous growth of plants. I begin shipping about March 1st. 
Many inquiries come in regards to planting in August. Plants 
at that season of the year are not matured enough to permit digging 
or shipping. Therefore Spring is the most natural and successful 
time for planting. Some gardners and growers insist on setting some 
during the late summer and early fall before our regular shipping 
season. If you wish plants at this time we will furnish them. Write 
for our late summer prices. 
HOW TO SET PLANTS 
AND CULTIVATION 
There are many methods of setting strawberry plants. No par¬ 
ticular method has advantage over another except in the saving of 
labor. The important thing is to get your plants in the ground the 
same depth as they grew in the original bed and to pack the dirt 
firmly around the roots. This done, there is little choice as to the 
method of doing it. The cultivation is always important and should 
be started as soon as the planting is finished. If one will take the 
trouble to destroy all grass and weeds the year previous on land to be 
planted to strawberries, it will be found to pay handsomely, as the 
seeds thus destroyed will not be in your berry beds to plague the 
grower and run up the cost of hoeing. Keep them clean until frost, 
hoe shallow so as not to disturb the roots, and success is assured. 
