FIELD CULTURE OF STRAWBERRIES. 1 23 



tht ground in better shape and makes it easier to cultivate than 

 any other way I have ever tried. 



In the growing of plants for the plants alone you can make your 

 ground as rich as you please, but for fruit you may often get your 

 ground too rich. The growing of strawberries for plants or for 

 fruit are entirely different things. 



Mr. W. L. Taylor : In raising plants and manuring quite heav- 

 ily, don't you get your plants into the habit of not bearing as free- 

 ly as they otherwise would ? 



Mr. Brackett : I have never experienced any trouble of that 

 kind. I think a well grown plant having good roots is all we need. 

 I do not think heavy manuring affects the future bearing of the 

 plant at all. 



Mr. W. H. Getchell: What about varieties? 



Mr. Brackett : I think the Senator Dunlap is ahead of any- 

 thing else we have. The berries are solid and of a very fine quality. 

 I have some forty varieties, but I think the Senator Dunlap l>eads 

 them all. 



Mr. A. D. Barnes : What is your soil ? 



Mr. Brackett : Mine is a clay subsoil with a black loam. 



Mr. Barnes : Do they root deep ? 



Mr. Brackett : Yes, very deep. 



Mr. Oliver Gibbs : What is the name of the cultivator you say 

 you use ? 



Mr. Brackett: It is the Planet Jr. 



Mr. W. H. Getchell: What plan of planting do you find best? 



Mr. Brackett: I explained that before. By the method I sug- 

 gested we plant an acre and a quarter a day. Out of one particular 

 acre and a half field, I found only six plants that did not grow. 

 One advantage of planting with the hoe is that you get no dry dirt 

 around the plant. With one motion of the hoe you can scrape the 

 dry dirt away from the surface so you leave nothing but moist earth 

 exposed. 



Mr. W. L. Taylor : In cultivating, do you go twice through a 

 row or only once ? 



Mr. Brackett : That is a point I ought to have mentioned. I 

 cultivate both ways. I go first one way and then the other until 

 the vines commence to run. and then I only cultivate one way. 



Mr. Wyman Elliot : Do you employ horse or hand cultivation ? 



Mr. Brackett: I use the horse entirely. One man spent only 

 a day and a half on this acre and a half with the hoe. Those shovels 

 will run closer to the plants than any shovel you can possibly devise. 



Prof. Washburn : I would like to inquire whether you are trou- 

 bled with insects? 



Mr. Brackett: I have always kept my bed in healthy condition 

 by burning it off, and I have never used much rotted manure, so I 

 have never been bothered with the grub or other insects. The 

 main trouble I have had was with blight, but that was not very 

 serious except with the Bedcrwood and Warfiekl. I use Bordeaux 

 mixture and spray my vines twice a year. 



