Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1886-10-14
RAISING STRAWBERRIES
How to Prepare the Ground for the Gull
tivation of This Luscious Fruit.


How to Prepare the Ground for the Gull
tivation of This Luscious Fruit.
NV first advice in regard to straw.
berries is To set them out Immediately
almost anywhere except upon land so
recently in grass that the sod is still
undecayed. This course is better than
not to have the fruit at all, or to wait
for it. A year without Strawberries is
lost year in one serious respect
While there is wide difference be-
tween what plants can do under un-
favorable conditions and what they can
be made to de when their needs are
fully met they will probably in any
event yield fair supply of delicious
fruit. Secure this as soon as possible.
At the SAME time remember that q
plant of a good variety is 4 Genius
capable of wonderful development:
In ordinary circumstances it is ike the
''mute, inglorious poets whose en-
| forced limitations were lamented by
the poet Gray; but when its innate
powers and gifts are fully nourshed it
expands into surprising proportions,
sends up hundreds of flowers;
which are followed by ruby
gems of fruit whose exquisite
flavor is only surpassed by its
beauty. No such concentrated am
bfosia ever graced the feasts of the
Olympian gods, for they wefe restricted
to the humble Fragdria gesca,o Or Alpine
species In discovering the New World,
Columbus also discovered the true
straw berry, and died without knowl-
edge of this result of his achievement.
can imagine the expression on the
faces of those who buy the 'sour, crude,
half-tipe Wilson's" against which the
poet Bryant inveighed 50 Justly. The
market Is flooded with this fruit. be-
cause it bears transportation about AS
well as would marbles Yes, they are
straw berries; choke-pears and Seckels
belong to the same species. There is
truth enough in my exaggeraton to
warrant the assertion that if we would
enjoy the possible strawberry we must
raise it ourselves, and pick it when
fully matured-ready for the table and
not for market. Then any man garden
can furnish something better than was
found In Eden.
Having started strawberry patch
without loss of time wherever it was
handiest, we can now give our atten-
ton to the formation of an ideal bed.
In this instance we must shun the
shade of trees above and their
roots beneath. The land should
be open to the sky, and the
sun free to practice his alchemy on the
fruit the greater part of the day. The
most favorable soil is sandy loan,
verging toward clay, and it should
have been under cultivation sufficiently
long to destroy all roots of grass and
perennial weeds Put on the fertilizer
with free hand. If it is barn-yard
manure, the rate of sixty tons to the
acre is not in excess, A strawberry
plant has large appetite and excel
lent digestion. 1t prefers decidedly
manure from the COW stable, but that
from the horse stable answers very
well, but it is not advisable to incor-
porate it with the soil in its raw, infer
mented state, and then to plant imme-
diately. The ground can scarcely be
too rich for strawberries, but it can
easily be overheated and stimulated.
In fertilizing ever keep in mind the two
great requisites, moisture and cool
ness. Manure from the horse stable,
therefore, is about doubled in value as
well as bulk if composted with leaves,
muck or sods and allowed to decay be-
fore being used.
Next to enriching the soil the most
important step is to deepen it. If u
pillow is used, sink it to the beam, run
it twice in furrow. If lifting sub
soil-plow can follow, all the better.
Straw berry roots have been traced two
feet below the surface.
If the location of the plot does no.
admit the use of pillow let the garden-
|, er begin at one side and trench the
! area to at least the depth of eighteen
, inches, taking pains to mix the surface,
. subsoil and fertilizer evenly and thor
, oughiy. A small plot thus treated will
! yield as much as one three or four
: times as large. One OF the cnlel au-
! vantages of thus deepening the soil is
that the plants are insured against
their worst enemy the drought.
How often | have seen beds in early
June languiShing for moisture, the fruit
: trusses lying on the ground fainting
under the burden, and the berries
, ripening prematurely into little more
than diminutive collections of seeds
When ground has been deepened, as
+ have said, the drought must be almost
, unparalleled to resist the development
! of the fruit Even in the most favora'
! BILE seasons hard, shallow soils give but
a brief period of strawberries; the fruit
. ripens all at once, and although the
! first berries may be of good size the
!, later ones dwindle until they are scarce
' ly larger than peas. BE sure to have
) deep, mellow soil beneath the pla"ts
, E. p. Roe, IN Hdrper'S Magazine