36 ANNUAL REPORT 



phate of copper (blue vitrol); in another vessel dissolve two 

 pounds of ordinary carbonate of soda; mix the two solutions, and 

 when all reaction has ceased, add 1^ pints of liquid ammonia. When 

 desired for use dilute to 22 gallons. This preparation should not 

 be applied to fruiting plants. The above two remedies were taken 

 from the Patent Office reports and we have found them very good. 

 To those who have fruiting beds badly affected with this para- 

 site, if the season should be wet and warm, we can offer them but 

 little encouragement for a good crop. They should be plowed un- 

 der as soon as done fruiting, and new beds started with healthy 

 plants as remote as possible from affected beds, or where they 

 have recently been. A bed of this kind will not be affected the 

 first fruiting season with the blight, but if the plants set in the 

 new beds were diseased, pick off all the affected lea\ es and fre- 

 quently apply the copper solution and the following year there will 

 be little or no trouble with the blight. 



A STRAWBERRY BED FOR GROWING PLANTS. 



Every new strawberry grower or those who have not taken the 

 necessary steps to grow their own plants, pure and healthy, should 

 know that it requires from three months to a year to grow just such 

 plants as should be set out for fruiting. Select a piece of ground that 

 is just moderately rich. Prepare it thoroughly by plowing and har- 

 rowing, but put no manure on it. Set out pure varieties, each va- 

 riety by itself, of such kinds as you intend to plant in your fruiting 

 beds, and in such quantities as will furnish what plants will be re- 

 quired for fall and the following spring's planting. They should 

 be set out about the 20th of May, 20 inches between plants, and in 

 rows four feet apart. When planting out, remove all buds and 

 blossoms and allow none to fruit. Give them good cultivation and 

 by the first of August new plants can be taken from them for fall 

 planting and also for spring planting the following year. Plants, 

 to be most fruitful, must always be grown on poorer soil than that 

 to which they are transplanted for fruiting. We never knew a 

 strawberry bed to pay expenses even when the soil was good, where 

 the plants were taken from richer soil than they were transplanted 

 to. Keep the plants perfectly free from blight by the use of the 

 solutions and by picking off affected leaves. 



STRAWBERRY BEDS FOR FRUITING. 



Select ground that is not subject to a wash. A deep strong soil 

 is desirable, but other soils are good, such as a sandy loam. It 

 should be where the snow will remain over the plants during the 

 winter. For fall planting, plow deep the last of May. In about 

 two weeks harrow fine and level, and give at once a good dressing 

 of well rotted manure scattered evenly over the ground. Plow it 

 under the last of July, harrow well, and set the plants the first of 

 August. Place the plants six inches apart in the rows and the 

 rows twenty inches apart. Set to a line, which will save much 

 labor in cultivation. Dig the plants with a sharp, bright spade, 

 and hasten to trim and bunch them as fast as dug. Puddle the 

 roots of the plants as soon as bunched in a mixture of water and 



