STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 409' 



THE CULTIVATION OF STRAWBERRIES. 



By J. 21. Smith, Green Bay, Wis. 



Mr. President: I will try and be as brief as possible, and if 

 I don't make myself understood I hope the members will not 

 hesitate to ask questions and I will try to answer them if I can. I 

 shall aim to talk to you briefly upon what I take to be the needs 

 of farmers. 



People in the cities can learn to grow strawberries for them- 

 selves, or they can buy them. There is no great secret about 

 growing thcui. Bnt I shall speak more directly of their culture 

 on the fjirm. Any man that can grow a crop of corn onght to be 

 able to grow strawbcnies successfully, and anj'^ man who will 

 grow a good crop of potatoes will grow a fair crop of straw- 

 berries, providing the conditions are right. The question is, 

 how will 3'ou do it? 



METHOD OF SETTIXG- 



When I can have plenty of manure, I manure heavily. Make 

 your land rich enough to raise a good crop of corn or potatoes, 

 and set it to strawberries. Upon a farm where land is plenty 

 and labor is often scarce, I would recommend to plant them so 

 as to do mo t of the work with a horse, or as much as i)0ssible. 

 Hence it will be necessary to jnit j'our rows a greater dist;ince 

 apart. I would plant, sny three and a half feet apart — three 

 feet at least; plant in long rows, so you can cultivate more 

 easily. Set the plants from twelve to fifteen inches apart in the 

 rows. If you are going to set Crescents you m ly set them safely 

 two feet apart in the row, and they will cover the ground during 

 the scison. 



AVe will suppose you are getting Crescents with a few Wilson, 

 or with a few Sharpless among them for fertilizers. The Cres- 

 cent being a pistilate plant, it is best to set something near it 

 for a fertilizer. Staminate varieties ought not to be used as they 

 are great runners and destroy the bed. Wilson is a perfect 

 flowering berry, the most so of any I have seen, having a perfect 

 pistil and stamens; the stamens of Crescent are very small. 



In my experience I have found it pays to pick off the blossoms 

 the first year; it is not much work to do this. Amateurs don't 

 like to do it after there is promise of some fruit; but it is better 



