Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1914-04-02
strawberry FERTILIzING
EXPERIMENTS AT UNIVERSITY
OF MISSOURI SHOW PHos-
PHoRUs INCREASES BER-
RY YIELD.
BY j. c. Written, Professor Of Hortl.
culture, College of Agriculture,
University of Missouri.

FOR the last years the agrt
cultural experiment station of the
University of Missouri, at Columbia,
has been conducting investigations
upon the effect of different fertilizers
on strawberry plantations. The three
essential plant food elements which
were applied nitrogen, phos-
phorus and potassium. These are the
only three plant food elements which
1t is necessary to supply in keeping
up soil fertility. They were applied
singly, in combinations of two ele.
ments and in combinations of all
three elements.
Yields of fertilized plots were com.
pared with corresponding areas in the
same field where no fertilizer was ap.
piled. 1t was thought that the addi.
tion of a fertilizer containing nitro
gen would be most likely to give ia.
vorable results because nitrogen
seemed to be exhausted somewhat
quickly from most of the soils in the
commercial strawberry-growing dis
tricts; because where fertilizer eX-
periments on strawberries have pre-.
viously been conducted results have
generally shown an increased yield
and because nitrogen is the one plant
food element which generally quickly
stimulates better plant growth or Wig
orous leaf and plant formation on any
agricultural plant. The strawberry
grower knows that in order to get a
large yield it is necessary to get a
good stand of plants. Ordinarily
where he gets the best stand of plants
he looks for the best crop.
Nitrogen was applied to certain
plots in the form of nitrate of soda
dried blood or cottonseed meal. Wher
ever nitrogen in any. form was applied
singly, or in combination with either
potash or phosphorus, the yield was
actually reduced.
The most important reaso for this
is that wherever nitrogen was applied
although the plant growth was bet
ter, the plants began to make runners
too quickly and too abundantly dur
ing the fruiting season. AS soon al
the plants began to make runners
they began to cease making flower
and fruit. The first early picking o
strawberries was usually good, bu
with immediate runner formation
there was no succession of later bios
SONS to prolong the fruiting of tn,
patch. AS soon as runner formation
got we'll started fruit production
ceased and there was a very shor
~early-season crop. This was particu
larly true during each spring, whel
there happened to be frosts which de
stroyed the early blossoms.
On plots not fertiliad with nitro
gen, If the early blossoms were frozel
off later blossoms usually continue
to be produced and a fair yield wa
Eventually obtained, v en though j
was usually later than the crop pre-
duced when there were no sprint
frosts. Wherever the early blossom
were killed off on nitrogen-fertilize'
plots, very few late flowers formed
but the plants ran to runner growth
rather than late blossom production
This was true whether nitrogen wa
applied in early spring, just befor'
the fruit crop began to be produced
or whether it was applied the pre-
vious season, when the plants wert
growing to get ready for the follow
ing spring fruit.
Troublesome weeds have beer
much worse in plots where nitrogen
was applied. This was especially tru'
where barnyard manure was put on
1t made weed growth worse durint
the season of cultivation. Patche
were more nearly filled with weeds il
autumn, after cultivation ceased, an,
the fruit plantation produced weed
much more abundantly in spring, t
smother out the crop before and dun
ing the ripening of the fruit
The application Of potash fertilize
in the form of muriate of potash o
sulphate of potash gave negative re
suits. Crops were neither increase
nor decreased in Missouri soils by tn
application of potash alone.
, The application of phosphorus ha
/, given very gratifying results. Las
, year the average yield of plots fel
tilted with phosphorus provided n
| trogen was not applied on the sam
plot amounted to an increase Of 81
an acre, above the yield of plot
, which had no phosphorus applied.
l The best way to apply p~hosphoru
on o%ld-bearing plantations is to sea
3 ter acid phosphate at the rate of abor
r 225 pounds an acre in early spring
when plant growth gets well startet
On newly set strawberry plantation
bit is well to apply phosphorus in tn
| form of bone meal at the rate of abol
| 225 pounds an acre, scattered brcat
cast over the land after the plants al
I set, and cultivated as the plantation
t being cultivated through the summe
t Good results have also been obtaine
4 by using bone meal in renewing plal
tations Of fruiting age.