COMMERCIAL FERTILIZER 
The use of commercial fertilizers is much on the increase for straw- 
berries, as for most other crops. A broadcast application of 1000 to 
|200 pounds well mixed with the plant bed will promote vine growth. An 
alternative is to side dress the row possibly two times in a season with 
an application of something like 250 pounds to the acre. Soil analysis 
will indicate the kind of fertilizer to use, but something between |0-10- 
|O and 4-16-16 is a pretty good shot in the dark. The tendency in the 
use of fertilizer is to use less pounds per acre of a higher analysis. 
Be a little careful of fertilizer put up in small bags and having a 
special name. It is generally good fertilizer, all right, but is nothing 
special and costs two or three times what it should. 
Spring application of high nitrogen fertilizer must be relatively 
light, and should be undertaken extensively only atter experience. Ap- 
plications that are too heavy may promote a top growth too heavy for 
best fruiting. 
PLANT SPACING 
Fruiting rows in commercial fields should be spaced at about four 
feet. In small plantings this distance can be held down to three and one- 
half feet or a little less. 
The distance apart in the row depends upon the ability 
of the variety used to make runners. We set such kinds as 
Premier, Fairland, and Fairfax about eighteen inches, varieties 
like Temple, Catskill, Vermilion and Dorsett about two feet. 
Such free running kinds as Blakemore, Robinson, Dunlap, Ten- 
nessee Beauty and Armore will generally make a good row if 
set as far apart as thirty inches. 
The number of plants required per acre therefore depends upon 
the variety used. From the above spacing, it will take slightly more than 
7000 plants for an acre of Premier or Fairland. 5500 plants will set an 
acre of Temple, Catskill or Vermilion, while Robinson, Blakemore, Ten- 
nessee Beauty and Armore need about 4500 plants. 
We favor the matted row system for the best and cheapest pro- 
duction, but strawberries will not do well in size of fruit or in total mar- 
ketable fruit if the plants are too close together. By matted row we 
mean a row twelve or fourteen inches wide with the individual plants 
about four Mmches apart in the row. If the year's growth leaves them 
closer, the smaller plants should be rigorously thinned out. 
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