TREATMENT OF THE STRAWBERRY FIELD AFTER PLOWING 



AND BEFORE RE-SETTING. 



HERE are various methods ot" treating 

 an old strawberry bed to get the soil 

 in good condition for resetting it to 

 strawberries, which requires not less than 

 two years. When the strawberry bed be. 

 comes unprofitable it is plowed up, as soon 

 as the crop is harvested. The straw is not 

 burnt off unless it is so heavy as to hinder 

 plowing. We usually mulch two-year-old 

 beds also. The land is again plowed in the 

 fall and seeded to wheat or oats the following 

 spring. After the grain is harvested we 

 apply manure at the rate of fifty loads to the 

 acre. The land is then plowed immediately 

 after the manure is spread. The next year 

 corn is planted, without plowing. We go 

 over twice with the cultivator and finish with 

 the harrow. The ground is then in good 

 condition for a crop of corn. In the fall 

 when the corn is cleared off the ground, 

 which we do as early as possible, we again 

 plow, this time quite deep. 



During: winter we haul about eight loads 



of soft wood a?hes to the acre, which is put 

 all in one pile on this land, and covered with 

 to keep from leaching. Only soft wood 

 ashes are obtainable here, but any amount 

 of it can be had at iwo neighboring cream- 

 eries and one flouring mill. The object of 

 hauling the ashes in winter, is because time 

 is too valuable in spring when the ashes are 

 to be used. The ashes are easily distributed 

 over the field with one horse and a road 

 scraper and afterwards spread with a shovel. 



In the spring before planting time, the 

 ashes are spread and the land gone over 

 with the riding cultivator until it perfectly 

 free from weeds. 



Of course the corn stubble is now on the 

 surface and must be removed, but it takes 

 one man with a hand rake only half a day to 

 clear one acre. After this is done, the land 

 should be gone over once with the harrow. 

 The land is then ready for marking and re- 

 setting of the strawberry field. — Report 

 Minn. Horticultural Society. 



APPLE STOREHOUSE. 



fe Y house for storing fruit is one that 

 M^^wit ^^^ °" ^^ premises and not built 

 ^^§^ for the purpose. But I find it 

 quite convenient. It is a stone building 

 26x34 feet, with good walls 2 feet thick, well 

 laid in mortar. To make it so I could hold 

 fruit through the winter, I lined it inside with 

 matched lumber, making an air space of 

 about 10 inches between the wall and lining. 

 It is a two-story house. I protect from cold 

 by putting straw on upper floor about 4 feet 

 thick when settled. It kept the fruit well. 

 I make a fire in it only three or four times 

 through the winter, on account of extreme 

 cold. 



I could, with but little expense, make it 

 good for cold storage by putting 8 or 10 12- 

 inch galvanized iron pipes through the upper 

 floor, letting them down 3 or 4 feet, and 

 filling from above with crushed ice and cheap 

 fertilizer salt. I have used it as it is, open- 

 ing the doors nights to cool off and keeping 

 it closed during the day, except when put- 

 ting in more fruit. I pick and put in barrels 

 in the orchard and store them open. In 

 rainy weather I can sort and pack for mar- 

 ket or cold storage, near market, by Nov. 

 15. I have seldom kept a crop over. — H. 

 H. Hill ill American Ag'riculturist. 



