Qrowing Strawberries IS Profitable 
Past History of the Industry in This Country is Convincing Evidence 
MR. G. E. BUNTING’S Message to 
Commercial and Home Garden Growers 
We are growers of good Strawberry plants, backed by forty years’ experience as commercial growers, 
having grown Strawberries for marketing purposes at least twenty years before entering the nursery busi¬ 
ness. Those in charge of this business now are the second and third generations of our family, the first 
generation being the first to grow Strawberries in this section of the country. During this period of time 
we have had much experience in Strawberry culture, and any information that we have is yours for the 
asking. 
CULTURAL DIRECTIONS 
TIME TO SET PLANTS. Each year we are 
surprised that so many people think you can post' 
pone setting Strawberry plants during Spring 
months, expecting to make up lost time by setting 
them in the Summer or Early Fall; it cannot be 
done successfully. Early Spring is the ideal tune to 
set Strawberry plants, depending upon your locality, 
just as soon as the weather permits preparing the 
ground. In the Southern states we recommend 
February and March; in the Central states, March 
and April; in the Northern states, April or as early 
in May as possible. Be sure to allow enough time 
to receive plants when ready for them. You, when 
stopping to think the thing through, will realise it 
requires some time for your order to reach the 
nursery after it has been placed in the mails, and 
it’s true the nurseryman—while thoroughly organ¬ 
ised to handle all business received promptly—has 
disappointments such as weather conditions, etc., 
which hold up digging and packing of plants. 
Generally speaking you are safe in judging that 
plants will be shipped in about two to three days 
after your order is received. Then, in addition to 
this, allow ample time for them to reach you. 
PREPARING SOIL AND APPLYING NECES¬ 
SARY PLANT FOOD. Prepare soil same as for 
truck or garden crops. Lay out rows, usually 3 feet 
6 inches to 3 feet 10 inches apart; set plants 
about 15 inches apart in the row. Do not 
use commercial fertilizer at the roots. 
Ground animal bone is fine to use at the 
roots; however, it should be thoroughly 
mixed with the soil in the bottom of the 
furrow before the row is made up. The 
spreading of good barnyard manure on the 
land before plowing is fine, and always 
profitable. Should your soil be very fertile, 
then we do not recommend using any type 
of fertilizer when planting. Potash at the 
rate of ten pounds to a hundred yards of 
row space, applied during the month of 
September, will have its effect on the qual¬ 
ity of the fruit the following season. It 
makes it firm, and gives it a fine, waxy ap¬ 
pearance, both of which are necessary for 
the fruit to command best prices in the 
market. We recommend applying Potash 
as outlined above, and consider it the secret 
of success in commercial Strawberry culture. 
During very early spring, or we’ll say from 
four to eight weeks before growth starts, a 
good grade of commercial fertilizer carrying 
an analysis of say 5 per cent Ammonia, 6 to 
8 per cent Phosphoric Acid and 10 per cent 
Potash, should be broadcast on the row 
of plants at the rate of fifteen pounds per hundred 
yards of row space. 
When making the September application of 
Potash as referred to above, it should not be thrown 
directly on the foliage; instead, carefully broadcast 
along each side of the row of plants, and immediate¬ 
ly cultivated in. It is well to select a day without 
much wind, and with a dry atmosphere to avoid 
burning the plants. 
CULTIVATION. Soon after plants are set in 
the spring, cultivation should begin. Keep rows 
free of vegetation during the entire summer months, 
and to do this successfully some hand work is neces¬ 
sary, also the use of a hoe at intervals during the 
entire growing season. The production of a field 
of Strawberry plants for fruiting purposes can be 
much less expensive if the location for planting is 
made by selecting a plot of soil which is free as 
possible from weed and grass seeds. Should you 
have a plot of land which you contemplate setting 
to Strawberries, you should keep the crop free from 
vegetation or as nearly so as possible during the 
year previous. Or, if the land has been lying idle, 
plow late in the summer before the weeds and 
grass develop seed to maturity, thus eliminating a 
crop of weeds and grass the next season, and at the 
same time you are making the soil more fertile by 
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