300 State Horticultural Society, 



HOW TO GROW STRAWBERRIES. 



(By H. W. Jenkins, Boonville, Mo.) 



The growing of strawberries with the writer has afforded 

 both pleasure and profit, for my experience has been that straw- 

 berries, well cared for, can be depended upon to return something 

 each season for the labor expended upon them, as I cannot remem- 

 ber in my twenty years' work as a grower, an entire failure. 



My natural inclination to love strawberries and the work con- 

 nected with growing them can probably be attributed to the fact 

 of my having a birthday in the strawberry season, the 29th of 

 May, and a birthday dinner without strawberries would be some- 

 thing like a Thanksgiving dinner without the turkey and cran- 

 berries; so I am a natural born crank on strawberries. 



The old saying, "there is no excellence without great labor," 

 applies to the growing of strawberries as well as to other things. 



To succeed, a man must expect to work with both head and 

 hands, as it requires labor, guided by experience and judgment, to 

 grow them ; and skill, tact, patience and energy to get them picked 

 and marketed. The strawberry, probably, is grown over a larger 

 territory and under a greater variety of climates and out of more 

 different soils than any other berry; but it naturally follows that 

 some soils and climates suit it better than others. The varieties 

 show a greater degree of variation on different soils than any other 

 berry; so that it is a hard matter to determine what a variety 

 will do until it is tested and tried, and sometimes it takes more 

 than one trial to decide fairly on the merits of a new variety. I 

 have grown berries in four counties in Missouri — Jasper, Jackson, 

 Clinton and Cooper — the first three on the prairie soils, the last 

 oh loess soils on the Missouri river hills (originally timber land). 

 My judgment is that this latter produces much the best berries. In 

 choosing a suitable field for strawberries, select one that has good 

 natural drainage ; the soil must be fertile but not too rich, for then 

 the growth will. all go to make leaves and stems and not fruit. The 

 selection of varieties is of the greaest importance. It must be a 

 variety that produces a berry with size, color, shape and flavor; 

 but the size and color are the most important, as that is what at- 

 tracts the eye of the purchaser. The variety, however, must not 

 only produce a berry having the above characteristics, but it must 

 be a productive one to make it profitable. 



