Page 4 



BETTER FRUIT 



May, ipip 



Straw berry packing house. Loading the full ciales to he lakon to the shipping point. 



from 12 to 15 inches between the plants 

 in the row. This, however, sliould be 

 regulated somewhat according to the 

 strength of the soil. On poor soil the 

 plants should be set closer, while on 

 heavy soil they should be planted fur- 

 ther apart, for the reason that the light 

 soil makes a smaller plant and conse- 

 quently less berries. For this reason it 

 is necessary to plant close to get a good 

 yield, while on heavy soil, or rich bot- 

 tom land, where the plants grow to a 

 large size, it is necessary to plant them 

 further apart in order to give the plants 

 room to develop and get plenty of air 

 and light to ripen the fruit. 



Setting the Plants 



There are two different ways of set- 

 ting the plants. One is to set the roots 

 of the plant straight down; this the 

 writer considers the best way. In order 

 to set the plants with the roots straight 

 down, the writer uses a trowel made 

 especially for that purpose, three inches 

 wide at the bottom, four inches at the 

 top and six inches long. If the roots 

 of the plants should be any longer than 

 that the ends of the roots should be 

 trimmed off sufficiently to spread out 

 straight in the hole when they are 

 planted, then the dirt should be firmed 

 around the plants with the palms and 

 fingers of the hands, without laying the 

 trowel down. One man, in this way, 

 with a bov to drop the plants, can set 

 from 6,00fJ to 8,000 plants per day, or 

 about half an acre per day. 



The other way to set plants is with a 

 hoe, with the handle sawed off to suit 

 the convenience of the one that is doing 

 the planting. Then he strikes the cor- 

 ner of the hoe in slanting under the 

 top of the dirt and lets the probably 

 dry and loose dirt fall down on top of 

 the roots, crawls along, placing one 

 knee on top of the plants and considers 

 that he has done a good job of planting. 



Cultivation 



As soon as you get your plants set, 

 cultivation should begin immediately, 

 if in the spring and the weather is dry. 

 This can best be done with a wheel 

 hoe, followed with a hand hoe. Hand 

 hoeing should simply be done to culti- 

 vate the soil between and around the 

 plants, and it should be done in such a 



manner that it will leave a loose mulch 

 from one-half to one inch all around 

 the plants, to keep the soil underneath 

 moist so it will not bake and get hard. 



The wheel hoeing should be done 

 every two weeks, or after every hard 

 rain, at least, to keep the ground from 

 baking or forming a crust on top. It is 

 always well to bear in mind that the bet- 

 ter care the young plants receive the first 

 season after they are planted, the easier 

 it will be to take care of them as long 

 as they are left in. Also the profitable- 

 ness of the field will to a certain extent 

 depend upon the care they receive the 

 first sunnner after they are set out. If 

 you make strong healthy plants of them 

 the first year, and give them reasonably 

 good care thereafter, you will always 

 have a good field. On the other hand, 

 if they are neglected the first season 

 and the weeds get the start of you your 



plants will never amount to much. The 

 weeds will rob the soil of the nourish- 

 ment that the plant should receive and 

 will cause you a great deal of backache 

 and hard work for the amount of ber- 

 ries you will receive in return. 



Irrigation 



Most growers in irrigating berries 

 irrigate too much. The practice of run- 

 ning water on berry fields night and 

 day, whether they need it or not is 

 simply one way of washing the fertility 

 out of the soil, and this is a mistake 

 that should be avoided, especially on 

 sandy or gravelly soil with poorer sub- 

 soil. It "should always be borne in 

 mind that in order to make the plants 

 do their best they should simply be kept 

 nice and moist, but not waterlogged. 

 Each irrigation during the summer 

 should be followed with a cultivation 

 as soon as the ground is sufficiently dry 

 to cultivate nicely. This has reference 

 to the first summer after the plants are 

 set. After that, no cultivation is given 

 during the blooming and fruiting sea- 

 son, especially if the weather is hot and 

 the soil is sandy, as the water running 

 through the rills will have a cooling 

 effect upon the soil. Also it is always 

 advisable to manage your irrigating so 

 that you do not irrigate just ahead of 

 the pickers. 



Picking the Berries 



One should, if possible, have at least 

 part of the pickers engaged before the 

 picking season commences and be well 

 supplied with hand carriers. It is al- 

 ways well to have at least four times 

 as many carriers as you think you will 

 need pickers, as time is very precious 

 during the rush, and you want the pick- 

 ers to pick all they can. And when you 

 have a large number of pickers, say 

 about 25, all starting out on the field in 



Truckload of crates ready to be placed in iced car and three open crates showing 

 the method of packing. 



