Six Weeks of Strawberries 
Photographs by the Author and N. R. Graves 
HOW YOU CAN GROW A PLENTIFUL SUPPLY OF DELIC¬ 
IOUS BERRIES IN YOUR OWN GARDEN-AUGUST THE 
TIME TO SET OUT PLANTS—WHAT YOU NEED KNOW 
B Y careful selection, proper 
cultivation and judicious 
fertilizing the garden patch 
should furnish fine large straw¬ 
berries for at least six weeks. 
Garden soil is usually richer 
in nitrogenous material than an 
equal area of field soil since 
the applied fertilizer and the 
quantity of decaying vegetable 
matter are in a larger proportion. Thus there is usually a 
sufficient basis for the vine 
growth essential to a good 
start for the young plants. 
Both the sandy and clay loams 
will grow good berries, but 
the sweeter earlier products 
are realized on the lighter soil 
while the heavier favors a 
larger yield with greater acid¬ 
ity of the berries. Berries of 
the nature of the Gandy re¬ 
quire a rich, mucky soil. A 
northern exposure is the most 
suitable for the later growing 
yarieties. 
A plot ten feet wide, twen¬ 
ty-five or thirty feet long, set 
with vigorous plants twelve 
inches apart, with thirty inches 
between the rows, should sup¬ 
ply a family of four people 
with all the berries they can 
use. The rows may be set as 
close as twenty inches where 
there is limited room, but the 
above arrangement gives am¬ 
ple room for cultivation and 
for gathering the fruit without trampling the plants. Thick¬ 
growing varieties such as the Warfield, however, should be 
planted eighteen inches apart in the rows, as they form a thick 
mat interfering with the development of the fruit if planted like 
.other varieties. 
Strawberry plants set in April will bear fully the next season, 
but strong, healthy potted plants set out in August in well pre¬ 
pared soil will do as well. It is preferable to use for the stiaw 
berry patch that part of the garden where leguminous crops have 
been raised earlier in the season, or a liberal application of well 
rotted manure or ground fish about the middle of July will fit the 
soil for receiving the plants about August first. Both manure 
and green crops must be turned under. In the latter case a vig¬ 
orous chopping with a spade will reduce the bean or pea vines to 
a workable condition. 
The following dressing is excellent if worked into the soil 
previous to setting. Ten parts of dissolved South Carolina rock, 
six parts of ground fish, one part of nitrate of soda and three 
parts of muriate of potash. This fertilizer must be thoroughly 
mixed with the soil, using it at the rate of two pounds to thirty 
plants. Mellow soil is essential. A thorough raking with a 
steel-toothed garden rake should render it fine. 
The best plants for setting are those having an abundance of 
fine rootlets and they must be so placed as to bring them in con¬ 
tact with the greatest soil area. Either a broad flat hole in 
which the roots are spread out or a long narrow one which re¬ 
ceives them in a fan-shaped position is satisfactory. Potted 
plants are slipped from the pot to their position in the ground 
without disturbing the mass of roots and soil. In all cases 
the roots must be entirely 
j* covered and the soil pressed 
|J§ .y* firmly upon them, care being 
taken that the tender growth 
center in the top of the plant 
is fully exposed. All runners 
which form in the fall after 
setting the plants must be 
pinched off and cultivation 
should continue until frost. 
After growth ceases the beds 
may be protected with chaff 
or cut straw, for in many lo¬ 
calities the severe winter 
weather injures the plants. 
Before the plants blossom 
in the spring another dress¬ 
ing of fertilizer may be given, 
using one pound to every 
thirty plants. A good mix¬ 
ture consists of eleven parts 
of dissolved South Carolina 
rock, two parts of dried blood 
or slaughter house waste, four 
parts of nitrate of soda and 
three parts of sulphate of 
potash. Instead of the first 
two ingredients, ground bone may be substituted, using about 
two and one-half times the quantity. The mulch may be replaced 
(Continued on page 68) 
The rudimentary plants that develop on runners from the parent stock are 
potted off by a process called “layering” 
ie use of a straw mulch until after the fruiting season results in more 
(So) 
