244 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Strawberries with Irrigation. 



N. A. RASMUSSEN, PRES. WIS. STATE HORT. SOCIETY, OSHKOSH, WIS. 



I do not think that in a commercial way we can afford to 

 grow strawberries without water. In a small garden on the 

 farm it is easy to get water to them, and in a commercial way 

 you can grow them anywhere if you have water piped to the 

 bed, and it is but a small extra expense if you have a well that 

 supplies the water. We are surrounded by water on all sides, but 

 the only water we can get control of is that down below, and we 

 ought to have it on the strawberry bed. 



But before I go on about strawberry culture with irriga- 

 tion I am going to speak a little on some mistakes we are apt to 

 make. Most any soil will raise strawberries, and it has been 

 said soil that will raise corn will grow strawberries. It will, but 

 it will not grow crops worth while. We should have our land 

 in the best of condition if we expect the best results. Clover 

 sod, with a heavy application of barnyard manure plowed under 

 in the fall or early spring, planted to potatoes or beans, kept thor- 

 oughly cultivated and free from weeds, makes an ideal place 

 for strawberries the following year. 



In the selection of plants, I think is where we are apt to 

 make mistakes. I think we should select our plants much as 

 the dairyman selects his cows. He takes one cow, perhaps, or 

 a few good cows, as the foundation of his herd; we should 

 take individual plants for the foundation of our strawberry 

 bed. Go into the field soon after planting time, look for the 

 plants that have thrown out extra large, strong fruit stems, 

 with runners not too numerous but large and strong; stake off 

 and take your new plants from there. You will find that some 

 plants will throw out several times as many runners as others; 

 my idea is that the plant that will produce too many runners 

 runs to runners instead of fruit. You may find some that run 

 to fruit and will have practically no runners. We think by 

 thus selecting the plants the strain is improved somewhat. 



We grow practically one variety, the Senator Dunlap. I find, 

 however, that they will not do well in all sections, but in most 

 cases where they have been tried they have proved success- 

 ful. We set the plants with a two horse planter, the same 

 as is used for setting cabbage and tobacco, and find they do 

 far better than when set by hand, and also find this saves a 

 great deal of expense. We set the plants 18 inches apart in 

 the row and four feet between the rows. We cultivate with a 



