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3 
has the satisfaction of knowing that his product is going to do good to the 
consumer. It don’t cost much to start in strawberry culture—about as much 
for an acre of plants as you w'ould pay for an average cow. You don’t have 
to care for strawberries during the winter; after they are covered in fall, they 
take care of themselves. 
Any good soil that will grow either corn or potatoes, will grow straw¬ 
berries. We advise planting after two or three hoed crops have been grown 
on the same land. We advise draining thoroughly, as undrained land is 
unreliable, and wet induces fungus growth, the worst enemy of the strawberry. 
Grubs, the worst insect enemy, are largely eradicated by growing two or three 
crops of corn or potatoes, previous to setting the plants. We apply barn 
manure to the corn crops, thus getting the manure thoroughly incorporated 
with the soil before setting out the plants. We use only concentrated or com¬ 
mercial fertilizers on the land after the plants are set, because we believe barn 
manure tends to cause fungus growths to flourish, to the disadvantage of the 
plants. We prefer, in this locality, to set plants in the spring, at the time 
when most other crops are put into the ground. We set in rows from 3 to 5 
feet apart and the plants from 1 to 2 feet apart in the row. A favorite dis- 
60 quarts of Strawberries and three children of I». J. Farmer. Photographed Oct. 30, 1912. 
tance is 1 x 4 feet. Set this distance, an acre will take 10,000 plants. We set 
the plants with any tool that will get the roots down straight into the soil 
as deep as they formerly grew. We aim to keep the ground free from weeds 
by horse cultivation and hand hoeing until growth stops in the fall. In apply¬ 
ing fertilizer our rule is to put one-third on the ground before plants are set, 
one third while they are growing the first year, and one-third in the spring 
before the growth starts, the fruiting year. We use from 500 to 2,000 pounds, 
depending upon the previous richness of the soil. The fertilizer should analyze 
as near 4% nitrogen, 10% phos. acid and 10% potash as is possible. We cover 
the fields with straw or some other mulch about December 1st for winter pro¬ 
tection. This also acts as a carpet or mulch to keep weeds down, the berries 
clean and from drying up in fruiting season, if carefully removed from over 
