Winter Meeting. 323 



Mr. Karnes : No ; I never cultivate a Damson plum orchard. 

 Feed it as much wood ashes as you can and put it as close to the 

 chicken house as you can. 



STRAWBERRY PLANTING— RAISING AND HANDLING THE 



CROP. 



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



The subject assigned to me by our secretary seems to cover about 

 the whole ground, and I realize that one to do justice to it, must, if 

 he meets the requirements along the lines of extensive production, 

 be a master of the situation from the selection of the ground and 

 its preparation to the placing of the product in the market. This 

 is a wide range, and I hesitate to undertake so complicated a task 

 and the remarks that will follow, will of necessity have more or less 

 of a local application being based upon my experience at Neosho. 



In the outset, permit me to say, that of all horticultural work 

 the growing of the strawberry is my favorite. No doubt this par- 

 tiality is due to the degree of perfection attained by this fruit in South- 

 west Missouri, which can truly be said to be the home of the straw- 

 berry, but I would not say the same for the peach. Of all produc- 

 tions of this region, and they are many and varied, none flourish 

 better, if so well, as the strawberry, and none yield a surer return for 

 labor rightly expended. 



As our natural markets are the cities and towais north and north- 

 west of us, most of them being too far away to reach safely by ex- 

 press, our efforts are directed to the production of sufficient quantities 

 of fruit to make daily car lot shipments, and of this degree of produc- 

 tion my paper will treat. 



Of soils I prefer good timber upland, which has l)ecn cleared and 

 cultivated thoroughly one year. This is in a condition to supply all 

 the needs of the strawberry and contains sufficient humus to work 

 easily and resist drouth well. My next choice is naturally good old 

 land, which has produced a crop or two of stock peas. Neither of 

 these soils will be benefited by the application of any kind of fertilizer, 

 and I now avoid their use in every case. 



Plow the ground early in the spring as thoroughly and deeply 

 as possible, following in the furrows with the subsoiler that will loosen 

 up the largest amount of clay or whatever happens to be present un- 

 derneath. Do not fear bad results from this treatment. Such will 

 never appear, 1 assure you. 



