CULTIVATION OF THE STRAWBERRY. 221 



CULTIVATION OF THE STRAWBERRY. 



C, B. CRANDALL, RED WING. 



It is very necessary that the piece to be planted should be selec- 

 ted two years before setting-, as the cultivation and crop that is 

 grown previous to the strawberries largely determines the crop of 

 berries. We prefer potatoes to any cultivated crop, but red clover 

 we think equally as good as any, as it leaves the top soil rich and 

 mellow, the subsoil porous, admitting- of and retaining a great 

 quantitj^ of moisture. We give the sod a coat of manure and plow 

 it under in the early fall. The following- spring- we top dress with 

 well rotted manure and thoroughly mix it with the soil by the use 

 of a disc harrow. 



Never set the plant directly in the furrow the marker may leave 

 or run the rows up and down the slope, as the rains may do them 

 great damage. 



After setting-, we spend most of our time in the strawberry bed. 

 They are cultivated ever}'^ week and always as soon after a rain as 

 the ground will permit, commencing at a certain row each titne 

 and working- the bed the same way the entire season. We run the 

 cultivator as close to the row as possible without working- an in- 

 jury to the plants. After the runners start, we aim to cover the 

 ends of them with the cultivator. 



We hoe as soon after setting as possible, so as to put the top of 

 the plant in proper shape to stand the rains we are sure to get at 

 that time of the year. In hoeing- we aim to keep the soil as level as 

 possible, always keeping the runners in the direction the cultivator 

 has left them. Never allow the bed to become weedy. In cultivat- 

 ing- be careful the rows do not become a high ridge. This can be 

 avoided by care in hoeing- and cultivating-. Hence, the cultivator 

 must have small shovels. The one we use is a two-horse, ten-tooth 

 cultivator, and is a most desirable implement, as it can be adjusted 

 to meet almost any requirement. Should the rows become too wide 

 we narrow them by attaching a rolling- coulter to a cultivator. 



The second year, as soon as the crop is removed we mow and 

 burn the bed. We then work the space between the rows with a 

 disc harrow, first removing eight of the discs on a sixteen disc har- 

 row, the four outer and four inner ones. Then cultivate and hoe 

 the same as the previous year. 



Mr. G. J. Kellogg: Have you any trouble with the white 

 grub after clover? 



Mr. Crandall: No, sir. 



Mr. Kellogg: How long do you leave the clover? 



Mr. Crandall: We harvest the crop, of course, and then 

 break it. 



Mr. Kellogg: I prefer a Breed's Weeder to a cultivator. 



Mr. Crandall: I think that is a wise idea. 



