Summer Meeting. 3L 



THE STAVVBERRY— GROWING, PREPARING AND SETTING^ 



THE PLANTS. 



(By F. H. Speakman, Neosho, Mo.) 



I dealing with the subject assigned me I will attempt to speak onl}r . 

 from the standpoint of the commercial planter. He it is who must master 

 every detail from the setting of his plants to the marketing of their pro- 

 duct. Competing as he must not only with those in his own section, but 

 in others as well, in the markets that are naturally his, he must first of all 

 be practical. Everything that will tend to improve either the quality or 

 quantity of the output of his fields must be taken up and mastered. It 

 is not enough that he study varieties ; he must study types as well. Every 

 grower should raise his own plants and the greatest care should be ex- 

 ercised in securing those true to label and of the best strain. Having* 

 secured the plants of some reliable nurseryman or fruit grower select a 

 piece of well drained land of fair fertility and preferably of good eleva- 

 tion for the plant bed. Set varieties together as much as possible to pre- 

 vent missing by running across from one row to another. Rows shpvild 

 be from 4 to 5 feet apart, with plants 3 to 4 feet apart in the rows. The 

 distances to be determined by the plant making capacity of the variety set. 

 Free running sorts, as Warfield, Haverland, Aroma and others should 

 be set the greater distance with Bubach. Clyde, Greenville, Parker Earle 

 and others similar in habit the lesser. Give thorough and deep cultiva- 

 tion during the season, removing all blooms as they appear, that no en- 

 ergy may be wasted but all concerned for the making of plants. 



Deep preparation of soil with shallow cultivation after has been the 

 rule of procedure advocated by most authorities on the strawberry, but 

 in South - Missouri the deeper the work all along the better. Narrow 

 shovels in either the two-horse cultivator or double shovel plow give best 

 results. 



Having completed the cultivation of the plants their removal from the 

 ground prior to the setting in the fruiting field is in order. This should 

 be done in this region during the months of December and January for 

 best results. Not only is time saved by doing the work at this season, 

 but better growth and stand of plants are secured. 



Take up one variety at a time, using a good strong prong hoe or 

 "scratcher" for the purpose. Do not leave any plants for fruiting, but 

 remove the whole row. Plants for setting should be grown in one place, 

 and those for fruit in another. As you dig them remove to a suitable 



