I know that many authorities
frown upon cultivation during the second spring, before plants
bear their fruit. I can not agree with this view, except in regard
to very light soils, and look upon it as a relic of the old theory
that sandy land was the best for strawberries. Take the soil under
consideration, a sandy loam, for instance. After the frost is out,
the earth settled, and the winter covering raked off, the soil
under the spring sun grows hard, and by June is almost as solid as
a roadbed. Every one knows that land in such condition suffers
tenfold more severely from drought than if it were light and
mellow from cultivation. Perennial weeds that sprouted late in the
fall or early spring get a start, and by fruiting-time are
rampant. I do advocate EARLY spring cultivation, and by it I
almost double my crop, while at the same time maintaining a
mastery over the weeds.
As soon as the severe frosts are over, in April, I rake the
coarsest of the stable-manure from the plants, leaving the finer
and decayed portions as a fertilizer. Then, when the ground is dry
enough to work, I have a man weed out the rows, and if there are
vacant spaces, fill in the rows with young plants. The man then
forks the ground lightly between the rows, and stirs the surface
merely among the plants.
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