EVERBEARING STRAWBERRIES AT OSAGE, IA., IN 1916. 351 



Everbearing Strawberries at Osage, Iowa, in 1916. 



CHAS. F. GARDNER, OSAGE, IOWA. 



At this time I must tell you what the result has been on our 

 grounds in cultivating and handling the fall-bearing strawberry 

 during the season just closed. Last January (1916) the whole 

 country was covered over with a thick layer of ice, so heavy and 

 dense as to shut out the air, so that the plants would suffocate. 

 To prevent this we rolled all our strawberry patches with a heavy 

 cast iron roller, well weighed down with stone. This broke up 

 the ice in good shape and saved the plants. During early spring 

 we had plenty of moisture, and some to spare, and vines got fairly 

 well rooted before the long, dry spell commenced. As the aridity 

 increased we intensified our work by cultivating twice a week 

 and keeping a large hoeing gang steadily at work for a long time. 

 In this way we brought our plants out in a green, healthy condi- 

 tion in spite of the intense heat, and picked and marketed over 

 thirty thousand quarts of berries during August, September and 

 October. The most of them were shipped in pint boxes. There 

 were no extra large berries, as we had last season, when they 

 run all sizes up to 5% inches in circumference. This year they 

 just ran a fair size for market, but extra fine in quality. I never 

 knew them to taste better. 



It was too dry for the Peerless, and they made a poor show- 

 ing as compared with last year. One more good rain at the right 

 time would have pulled them through up to their former record 

 with a bound, but the required moisture did not come, and the 

 result shows they cannot stand extremely dry weather as well as 

 a good many other kinds. I shall watch them the coming season 

 with great interest. This year we have gathered about forty 

 pounds of fine clean strawberry seed from the best fall-bearing 

 plants, which we shall keep for those who wish to experiment in 

 growing seedlings and help us in our search for a plant that will 

 take the place of those we are now growing. There is no end to 

 this work, as there is always room for something better. 



In July we were favored with a visit by Prof. Darrow, of 

 Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington, D. C. He also visited us 

 again in September. He tells us he wants to be with us a week or 

 two next season (1917) . 



We did a little business the latter part of the season by start- 

 ing a "preserving plant" and we put up 3,000. 10i/2-ounce screw 

 top preserve jars. Retail at twenty-five cents. We have com- 



