DJSCUSSION ON STRAWBERRIES. 0/ 



Strawberry bed is so situated that you can burn it off without 

 danger to other crops or buildings, loosen up the mulch and after 

 two or three days drying set lire to it on the windward side so that 

 it will burn quickly. This destroys all insects and fungus growths, 

 if there are any, and leaves the old bed in the best condition to work 

 out and make into a new one. Perhaps, just a word of caution would 

 not be out of place right here. If the weather should be very dry 

 just at this time, there might be some danger of injury to the plants, 

 but I have never seen it if the work is done as soon as the berries 

 are harvested, but I have never seen it if the work of burning was 

 delayed for two or three weeks. If we are having plenty of rain we 

 cultivate the bed at once after burning and narrow the rows down 

 to about eight or ten inches in width. If very dry, we leave them 

 wider, say twelve to fourteen inches. Keep free from weeds the 

 same as a new bed. 



DISCUSSION. 



President Underwood: This paper is now open for discuss- 

 ion. 



Mr. A. H. Braclfett: I got a larger crop this year from a 

 bed that was burned over than I did from a new bed, consider- 

 ably more. 



President Underwood: I do not think you can make any 

 mistake in burning the bed off, and I do not think you need to 

 be afraid of the drouth. A year ago last summer we burned a 

 strawberry bed over, following the advice of Mr. Danforth, of 

 Red Wing, perhaps the most successful grower of fine straw- 

 berries in the state — at least, he is about the most successful 

 competitor at our summer meetings in showing fine fruit. A 

 year ago last summer, as I said, we burned a bed over during 

 the dryest time. We first i)ut on a quantity of straw, and no 

 bed could be more thoroughly burned over than that was. 

 There was not a particle of rain, nor was there the slightest 

 sign of anything growing on that bed for three or four weeks 

 after it was burned. It must have been some time in Septem- 

 ber before there was enough moisture in the air or in the ground 

 to start the strawberries or anything else, growing. That bed 

 came on, and without putting on a penny's worth of care what- 

 ever it was the best and most productive bed wo had this year. 

 We followed the same plan on five or six acres this year, and it 

 was entirely successful. J feel certain that is the most eco- 

 nomical and most successful way to treat an old bed. 



Mr. J. P. West: How often can that burning be repeated? 



President Underwoo*^: 1 hesitate to say. I know there are 

 some growers of fruit that make it a practice to plant a new 

 bed every year, and I hesitate to say that there is any better 



