i888. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



li 



and so evenly that nearly the whole crop 

 may be gathered at one picking. The qual- 

 ity Is considerably improved by being housed 

 a few weeks. As a keeper it is said to excel 

 all others; remaining, in a good, dry cellar, 

 sound until March — constantly improving 

 in flavor and quality to the very last. 



Mulching Strawberries with Leaves. 



E. II. Cl'SIIMAN. EUCLID, OHIO. 



I have tried many kinds of mulch for 

 the Strawberry, and find Maple leaves one 

 of the best. For years I have put on the 

 leaves of the same year's growth, and unless 

 brush, boards or some other coarse material 

 was placed on them they blew 

 off. This is the common draw- 

 back to their use. 



To obviate the difficulty re- 

 ferred to I have the leaves raked 

 up in piles in the woods during 

 open weather in the winter, and 

 allow them to stand through the 

 following summer to partially 

 decay. In this condition they 

 make a perfect mulch applied in 

 the fall. They stay where placed. 

 There are no weed seeds to grow 

 or come up through the follow- 

 ing summer. The ground is kept 

 moist beneath the mulch, and 

 by the time the fruit is gathered 

 the leaves are pretty well broken 

 lip and the earth between the 

 rows can be stirred without miich 

 difficulty. 



In this way a Maple orchard 

 can be made a valuable adjunct 

 to Strawberry culture. 



1 strongly suspect there is a 

 mistake about the best time to 

 mulch. I have until last year 

 followed the oft repeated direc- 

 tion. "Put on after the first hard freeze." 

 Last season as early as the first of October 

 the mulch was put ou between thickly 

 matted rows, and even to pretty well lap 

 over the plants, and they did well. 



This year have put it on hill rows the last 

 of October, with ju.st a little breathing place 

 for each plant. Plants not covered are all 

 brown, while those mulched have green 

 leaves. The earth seems to be much more 

 mellow where they are covered early. 



find that land for Strawberries will stand to 

 be well manured with good rotten manure 

 and unleached wood ashes, I have as yet 

 never found their equal on my land. They 

 not only increase the yield but they seem to 

 have a brighter color. The Wilson, for in- 

 stance, is rather dark in color, but on land 

 where I have used wood ashes and lime 

 (from the lime kiln) and secured good foli- 

 age my berries are much brighter, and in 

 our market will sell from .50 to 7.5 cents more 

 per bushel. The quality may be no better, 

 but theii' appearance is. 



Now with the land plowed in the fall, haul 

 on say about 30 loads of good rotten manure 

 to the acre. I mean by well rotten manure, 



Comparative Practical Test of Fertilizers. 



Below is a report of the e.\periment field planted by Stow (Mass.) Orange 

 the past season. The fertihzei-s employed were gencrou.'^lv contributed. 

 The grange had a Held meeting at the time of planting: .iiicl'trircl the dif- 

 ferent kinds of implements; also a field day of hexing and harvesting. 

 The crop was sold, which will make a neat little sum tor the treasury. 



* Planted two weeks later than the others. 



Preparing for and Setting out Straw- 

 berry Plants. 



M. L. THOMPSON, E-iST ROCKPORT, OHIO. 



First let me say that if your land hap- 

 pens to be heavy clay and not uuderdrained, 

 tile di'ain it and see that it is as free from 

 grass, clover, sorrel and other weeds liable 

 to take possession as possible. If you are in 

 no special hurry the best way is to prepare 

 the land the previous year by planting Pota- 

 toes or some other hoed crop to free it from 

 weeds and grass. Then in the fall plow deep 

 if the soil is deep, if not plow accordingly. 

 While I advocate deep plowing where your 

 land will stand it I don't advocate plowing 

 up the poor bottom soil; I recommend sub- ; 

 soiling heavy clay ground for this reason: 

 it makes the bottom soil more porous, the 

 plants taking better root, and are able to ; 

 better stand the winter, as well as drought 

 in summer. | 



Some say any good soil in northern Ohio 

 will do for Strawberries. In this I differ; I 

 recall a piece of land that was always con- 

 sidered as good a piece of land as was found 

 in our neighborhood and iinequaled for Po- 

 tatoes. But this same land would not grow 

 a quarter of a crop of Strawberries and the 

 only reason I can give for it is that it lacked 

 just what the Strawberry needed. It was 

 considered to be as a result of steady manur- 

 ing in lirst class condition for any crop. I 



manure that has been turned over two or 

 three times and heated so that all grass seeds 

 and weeds have been destroyed by the heat- 

 ing As you haul it out don't throw it in 

 heaps but scatter it over the top evenly. I 

 don't believe either in plowing under ma- 

 nure or putting it on fresh full of weed seeds. 



Tlie spring at hand and your land dry 

 enough, drag it thoroughly, and if necessary j 

 cultivate so as to work in the manure as near 

 the top of the ground as possible so that it is 

 just covered with fine dirt. The rain ^vill 

 be sure to wash the strength of the manure 

 down to the roots. 



As regards planting, I could never adopt a 

 regular plan, for my soil varies and the 

 seasons vary. Sometimes I mark out the [ 

 land and plant with a spade, having one [ 

 man make the holes and a boy or woman 

 put in the plants, a very good plan on some 

 of my soil. If my land is fine and mellow 

 I take a marker made of a piece of pine 

 6x8, and holes made for its teeth every foot 

 apart with a IX inch auger. The teeth 

 15 inches long with the end to go in the 

 ground, sharpened to about 1 inch through 

 and about 3 inches wide. This throws out a 

 nice mark about three inches deep; the teeth 

 are movable so I can make the rows 3, 3, 4 or 

 5 feet apart. Following this my hands can 

 plant very fast; they generally get on theii- 

 knees and then it is not such a backaching 

 job as planting with a spade. I have thills 

 and two handles to the marker. I prefer this 

 plan to the spade, as being less apt to get the 

 plants deep with the crown covered, a com- 

 mon trouble, resulting in loss of plants. 



Another thing, be sure to keep your plants 

 from the sun and wind. I generally use a 

 half bushel basket for planting because it is 

 light. When the weather is dry I keep plenty 

 of water near the plants to always keep them 

 wet, and not take too many in the baskets 

 at a time. I keep the plants in a flour barrel, 

 as it don't let in the wind, for if the wind 



strike the fine roots they are soon gone. No 

 doubt hundreds of dollars are lost by not 

 taking proper care of plants after they are 

 dug. Be careful nfit to mark out too many 

 rows at a time, as the fine ground will soon 

 get too dry, and if rain does not come right 

 off you may lose lots of jilants. 



My idea is that iilanting Strawberries is 

 often deferred until it is too late; they should 

 be planted as early in the spring a.s the 

 ground can be worked. In the North from 

 April 10th to 20th is a good time; the ground 

 is generally moist and there is not so much 

 danger of dry weather. Better get all the 

 help you need early and done with it; that 

 is my experience. I prefer four hands for 

 one week early to two hands 

 for a period of two weeks. 



One year when I planted a piece 

 late the weather came off hot and 

 dry and I had a ditch with plenty 

 of water close beside the piece. 

 I wanted to jilant, for I had 

 bought the plants and they came, 

 so nothing would do but they 

 must be planted, and the ground 

 had all been plowed in the spring 

 and was exceedingly dry and 

 fine. I run a risk on losing all 

 the plants if I waited for rain, 

 so I marked out four feet apart 

 and commenced to plant. I got 

 some pails and two water cans, 

 took off the nose and had the 

 women turn about a teacupful of 

 water right in the mark that I 

 had made about 15 inches apart. 

 I never saw a better catch. Early 

 in the next morning I went to 

 the patch and scarcely a plant 

 was wilted. I never lost less 

 plants nor had plants do better 

 than these. In three or four 



days rain came and they started. 



Neighbors said the watering would form a 

 crust and they would all die, but not so. 

 The women just grabbed a handful of wet 

 ground in their right hand and put the plant 

 in the hole with their left and then threw 

 the mud ou the roots and covered it over 

 well with dry dust, which kept it from bak- 

 ing. I had plenty of water close by or I 

 could not have done so well. 1 tried the 

 same thing this year with success. 



I think I can plant Strawberry plants in 

 the dry est of weather this way, and they will 

 stand a week without rain and lose but very 

 few plants. I only speak of it in case any- 

 one gets caught as 1 did. 



Prolonging the Strawuerby Season. In the 

 first place, varieties npeiiing earliest and latest, 

 must be planted. The earliest I have found of 

 any value is the Crescent; so I plant Crescent and 

 Wilson for early. Downing is ray best medium. 

 Mt. Vernon, Manchester, Kentucky and Glendale 

 are all good late varieties. The two former are 

 my choice. The plants should have thorough 

 cultivation, so as to go into winter perfectly clean 

 from weeds and gi'ass, making spring working 

 unnecessary; but if spring cultivation is necessary 

 it should be done as early as possible, which is no 

 detriment. They should be mulched as soon as 

 the ground is frozen, not before. The early 

 varieties may be miiUhed lightly on the rows, 

 and raked oflf between the rows early, that they 

 may start with the first growth of vegetation. 

 The late vaiieties should be mulclied heavily be- 

 tween the rows, and lightly on the plants, letting 

 it remain on in this form; but care should be 

 tilken that it is left but very light on the rows. 

 This is the important point of the whole matter. 

 I have had great damage done to plants in leav- 

 ing the mulch too heavy directly on the plants 

 to late to hold them back. If the season is Just 

 right they may recover, but if it comes dry and 

 hot after removing the mulch the plants are sure 

 to suffer. The very light mulch on the row, just 

 enough to shade the ground, and the heavy 

 mulch between the rows, will accomplish the 

 same desired effect, to retard the plants, and 

 ^vithout any fear of damage.— Michigan Report. 



