396 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



to be from ten days to two weeks later than Gandy's Prize. The ber- 

 ries are said to be firm, large and the vines very prolific Charles B. 



Cook, Michigan, in Prairie Farmer. 



WHEN TO PLOW UP STRAWBERRIES. 



I have noticed the advise of several strawberry specialists that 

 *'it did not pay to retain strawberry planis more than two years; that 

 a grower can turn under his beds every spring and reset the ground 

 cheaper than he can clear the ground of weeds and grass." 



This is no doubt true if the ground was not thoroughly freed from 

 such foul stuff before planting, but I think one is very unwise to ever 

 think of setting plants on such ground till every vestige of it has been 

 exterminated. 



My first experience of setting plants on sod ground was most em- 

 phatically impressed upon my mind. I had more hoeing and hand- 

 pulling to do on that plot of plants than on any plot of four times the 

 area since then. I grow at least one cultivated crop previous to set- 

 ting plants, and if the ground is not then free from grass and weeds I 

 grow another, but I do not forget to fertilize, as two crops in succes- 

 sion will exhaust much of the available fertility. 



One field which I set to plants recently grew two crops of sweet 

 corn. Each August I sowed rye in the standing corn and during the 

 winter I drew out manure and gave it a good coat; there was but lit- 

 tle leaching of soil or manure, and when plowed under I had a deal of 

 green matter to supply humus to the soil. This humus is very neces- 

 sary to plant life ; it is a means of supplying nitrogen to the plant. 

 Sdll will retain moisture better, besides regulating its texture. 



The first season after setting plants the ground is kept perfectly 

 clean, and when winter sets in we give the plants a covering of straw 

 if in an exposed position. When our plants are through fruiting we 

 burn them over. This will destroy many weed seeds and any grass 

 which may be growing. We start the cultivator immediately and keep 

 it going often enough during the fall to kill any weeds which start and 

 prevent a crust forming on the soil. By this course we have kept a 

 bed in profitable fruiting for three and four years. One of my neigh- 

 bors gathered fruit from beds which were set five years ago, and is 

 now preparing them for the sixth crop. This season he said they 

 yielded nearly 100 bushels per acre, which is as good as the average 

 crop. 



I have kept book account of my berry crop for several years, and 

 from my own experience I find it much cheaper to grow beds at least 



