4 
HALE BROTHERS CATALOGUE OF 
“BIG BERRIES AND LOTS OF THEM.” 
Whether we are growing them for family use or for market, Uie question is, liow 
can we have them, and from years of experience, while we know that oftentimes satis¬ 
factory and paying crops can be grown under almost any system of culture and on any 
soil, yet to have “ big berries and lota of them,” we must give up our old and slipshod 
methods of culture and give only the best and most thorough care from beginning to 
end. This does not necessarily mean being at any great expense either in cash or 
extra labor; it simply means doing the very best we can with the means at our disposal. 
Good corn or wheat land (which can be found on any fltrm), plowed deep and 
follr)wed by a sub-soil plow, if possible, are the first essentials. A fi6eraZ manuring 
en the surface after plowing, with well rotted stable manure, or raw ground bone anS 
wood ashes, if they are to be had, if not, muriate of potash ; from 400 to 600 pounds of 
the potash, and from 1,200 to 2,000 pounds of bone per acre, the quantity depending 
somewhat upon the natural fertility of the soil. This, thoroughly harrowed in, will 
prepare the ground for planting, which should be done in early fall or very early 
spring. Planting only the most approved varieties, young, thrifty, wdl-rootedplants, propa.- 
galed with care from Pe(lig;ree JStock (never using plants from old and worn-out 
fruiting beds); good, clean culture at all times, remembering that ifwmucA 
cheaper and easier to hoe a field three limes a month than it is once. 
Mulching of some sort, to give winter protection and to keep ground moist and 
fruit clean in summer, and irrigation, if possible. The foregoing general rules, only 
fairly well carried out, will, in most cases, give ‘‘big berries and lots of them,” at a less 
cost than a small amount of inferior fruit can be grown for under a less thorough sys¬ 
tem- of culture. 
STRAWBERRIES. 
For soil and general preparation, see general directions under head of “ Big Berries 
and Lots of Them.” The following, condensed from an address by J. H. Hale before the 
Connecticut State Board of Agriculture, are some of the leading points in successful 
strawberry culture: 
‘‘To start with, the land should be well plowed, subsoiled, and harrowed, two or 
three, yes, a dozen times over, if need be, to make it soft and mellow, so that the 
plants may get a good start from the very first. 
Manures. 
‘‘Well-rotted stable manure is usually at hand on most farms, and if applied lib¬ 
erally will give good returns. But from a somewhat careful study of the manure ques¬ 
tion in the cultivation of large fields of strawberries for market* I think a, better crop 
of fruit can usually be had from the use of commercial manures, having but a small 
amount of nitrogen, and the fruit be of better texture and flavor than when stable 
manure or nitrogenous commercial fertilizers are used. The strawberry is a gross 
feeder, and whenever well-rotted manure or fertilizer containing a large amount of 
readily available plant food, of a nitrogenous character, such as blood and bone, Peru¬ 
vian guano or fish scraps, is used, it will take it up greedily, and a very rank foliage 
growth is the result the first year, and the plant seem.s to make its plans for an enor¬ 
mous crop the next season ; but somehow it never quite keeps its promise, making a 
much greater show of foliage than fmit, and what fruit there is, is watery and insipid 
in flavor, and will keep but a short time after being picked. While, on the other hand, 
I have found that a manure of raw ground bone and wood ashes, or muriate of potash' 
encourages a much less rajud plant growth early the fir.st seiuson, hut that it is steady 
and even the Avhole season ilirougli, and by fall'we have a fine stand of well developed 
but not rank, foliaged plants that will alwavs at frniiing season the in xt year give a 
heavy crop of firmer, biigliter colored, and better flavored berries than can be grown 
on the same soil by the aid of manure containing a large percentage of nitrogen. 
When and How to Plant. 
"While the strawberry may be planted-with fair prospects of success anv month in 
the year that the ground is free from frost, the best time is earlv in tlie spVitn' while 
the plants are in a dormant comlijion. Rows, three ami one-half to four feet apart 
and f)lants ten to twelve inches, witli all runners cut. will, in my opinion "ive (he 
most and best fruit at the least exfiense. The ureat bugbear of nairow-i-ow or hill- 
culture. IS cutting the runners; but thU is a mere nothing to the labor of })i. king out 
A M matted row durin<r the last three growing months of the sea.son. 
And while strawberries can be grown more cheapiv in the narrow rows, the fruit will 
be larger and of better quality, and in case of drouth will sufl'er less than in matted 
rows. 
Selection of Varieties. 
‘‘ By the selection of varieties and the soil on which to plant them, the strawberry 
season may be prolonged to six weeks or more, if the earlier varieties are planted on 
