St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1908-03-28
FARMING IN
THE SOUTH
FERTILIzING STRAWBERRIES.

Growing Strawberries for Marketing
Purposes.
Correct fertilizing is far more i'm
portant than the selection of the soil,
for almost any soil will make fine
berries if properly fortified. No soil
can make them for any length of time
without judicio1s and liberal manur-
ing. Some of the reasons why it
pays to fertilize strawberries are:
(1) 1t vastly increases the yield,
(2) gives larger berries, CO a better
color and flavor, and "a firmer fruit.
The last named quality-frmness-
enables berries to be shipped long dis
tances to market and arrive fresh.
Several Of the best known varieties
were at first considered worthless,
owing to lack of f1rmness to carry
them to the market, and freshness to
sell them after they got there. The
remedy for all this has been found in
the liberal use of the mineral fertiliz-
ers. A strawberry crop on one acre
needs for it's development during
I'LL wv JOCAA . OAL OH CNC1 d6CJ GGO
of nitrogen, 375 pounds of potash,
and SO pounds Of phosphoric acid. II
liberal crops are expected, the soil
must supply the proper amounts of
plant food. The objection to farm
yard manure is that it contains too
much nitrogen as compared with the
potash and phosDhoric acid.
A strawberry fertilizer should con.
tain the three principal plant food
ingredients in about the following pro-
portions:
Ammonia. .............3 per cent
Potash. ...............5 per cent
PhOsphoric acid. .....6 per cent
That is, every 100 pounds of fer
tilizer should contain three pounds of
ammonia, five pounds of potash and
six pounds of available phosphoric
acid. The phosphoric acid is placed
far above the actual needs of the
plant as shown by the analysis, be-
cause this fertilizer is likely to take
insoluble forms in the soil; the am
monia is placed low as top dressings
A1GuC III LuC
A fertilizer containing, three, five
and six per cent respectively of am.
monia, potash and phosphoric acid
will be good strawberry manure.
1t should be applied at the rate of
500 pounds per acre drilled in before
planting, and thoroughly mixed with
the soil by running cultivator or
light plow along the furrow before
the land is listed, or bedded. In the
spring an application of $50 pounds
side Of the plants, as soon as the first
signs of growth appear. For fruiting
beds the full application of 500 pounds
per acre is made broadcast in the
summer or fall and worked in with
a cultivator If the ground is not
frozen.
A great deal of such fertilizer can
be proftably used on the strawberry
II applied at proper intervals, as fol-
lows: In the spring before planting,
again late in the summer or early
fall around the plants, and again in
the winter OF very early spring di.
rectly over them-fn all from 800 to
1900 pounds may be used with profit
This mode of fertiiiSt1g will nearly al.
ways be found more profitable than
applying all the fertilizer in one an
nual application.
One point must always be remem-
bered, and that is, never sow fertiliz-
ers directly on the plants in warm
weather while they are in the green
growing state, and never sow it on
them even in winter unless the leaves
are dry. In the far South, where the
plants keep green all winter, the fer
tilizer must be distributed around the
plants, preferably just before rain.
AS has been stated, one acre in
Strawberries, during a three years
growth, uses up 223 pounds of nitro
gen, SO pounds of phosphoric acid and
375 pounds of potash. Therefore
plants to do well must have these
quantities To take these different
elements from the soil without put
ting them back sooner or later ex.
hausts the soil.
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