174 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



With the exception of protecting" the blossom from frost each year 

 and giving the plants winter protection by mulching with straw, 

 the bearing strawberry patch needs but little attention until the fruit 

 begins to ripen, with the exception of dry seasons, when it is some- 

 times necessary to irrigate. This may be done in various ways with 

 more or less expense, and the best way seems to be by having a deep 

 well placed near the strawberry field with a windmill and an elevated 

 tank, or some might prefer a gasoline engine to force the water into 

 the tank, which can be conveyed to the rows through pipes or rubber 

 hose. Some people are lucky enough to have their strawberry field 

 near a running stream or lake. If that be the case water can very 

 easily be forced to the ground by means of a gasoline engine. With 

 us in Owatonna we have access to the city water works, which is 

 quite expensive and slow, but will answer the purpose if the planta- 

 tion is not too large. 



As soon as the crop is harvested the patch should be mowed over 

 and raked off, and then a drag tooth cultivator should be put to 

 work on the patch and about two-thirds of the plants torn out. 

 After a proper tearing out of the plants, the patch will not look 

 much like a strawberry bed, but what plants are left will runner out 

 and form new plants, and before the season closes, if it be not an 

 exceedingly dry one, the bed will be as thick as ever of nearly all 

 new plants and will be ready for business the following year. If 

 the strawberry patch is treated in this manner each year, profitable 

 crops can be grown a number of years without changing the bed. 



Mr. W. E. Fryer : What are your most profitable varieties ? 



Mr. Cashman : The Bederwood and the Warfield planted in 

 alternate rows give the best returns. I like the Splendid, also the 

 Enhance. We have had a little experience with the Clyde, but not 

 as much as with others. All we know of it is that it is a good fruit. 



Mr. Paul Burtzlaff: What are the shipping qualities of the 

 Clyde ? 



Mr. Cashman : I have never shipped any of them, but they are 

 quite firm : 



Mr. R. A. Wright : Just a word in regard to putting the ends 

 of those runners in the ground. It seems to me it would be an 

 endless labor to treat an acre of strawberries in that manner. _ It 

 would keep a man busy all the time and make a very expensive piece 

 of work, especially as the condition of the soil was this last season. 



Mr. Cashman": I find it is but very little work to push those 

 ends down while the boys are hoeing the plants. We use the hoe 

 a great deal in our strawberry field, and when we find a joint started 

 we push it down into the ground and as soon as a rain comes it 

 takes root. 



Mr. Wright: I think they grow thick enough without going 

 to that trouble. 



