SPECIAL THINGS NEEDED BY FRUITS 



and knotty roots. Throw infected vines away and get clean 

 stock. The young caterpillars of the Grape Plume Moth hatch 

 early in the spring and bind together several leaves at the ends 

 of shoots, feeding on them. Grape Root Worms feed on the 

 roots of grapes, staying in the ground all winter, and then, in 

 the spring, come up and feed on the leaves for a few days. The 

 Grape-vine Leaf-hopper is a sucking insect, infesting the under 

 sides of leaves. Rose Bugs are long-legged, grayish brown 

 beetles, about half an inch long. They are chewing insects. 



STRAWBERRY AND OTHER SMALL FRUITS 



All that has been said about the care of the soil for tree fruits 

 applies to those which grow on vine and bush and plant. Even 

 pruning of the small fruits should be done with the same prin- 

 ciples in mind as when pruning a fruit tree. Less thinning is 

 required, however, unless it be with strawberries. Strawberries 

 are the best possible inter-crop for an orchard. With them you 

 can get a good income from the ground, and give the trees the 

 needed cultivation. Do not plant any berries, or other crop, 

 nearer than four feet to the trees. 



In handling any intercrop between orchard trees, remember 

 that you must not stir the soil after the first of August at the 

 latest. It will be better left alone after the first of July. Straw- 

 berry plants do not ripen up and become dormant till the ground 

 freezes hard, but fruit trees must be entirely dormant before 

 any hard frosts come, or great damage will result. The same 

 remarks apply to watering the intercrop. Quite often it is 

 possible, even in the East, to irrigate part or all of a strawberry 

 field. For the plants this would be a desirable thing in the fall, 

 but it would be very bad for the trees. 



The train loads of berries that go rolling to the big cities 

 every May and June prove that strawberry growing is an 

 important industry in itself, without regard to the plants 

 in young orchards. On the Delaware and Maryland Peninsula, 

 in parts of the Mississippi Valley, in California, and in the 

 Northwest, wide sections have specialized on berry-growing. 

 In these places, nearly every station has an ice-plant near, has 

 a dozen or more berry-buyers' offices, and, in season, long lines 

 of refrigerator cars are loaded every day. Go to these stations 

 in the morning and see the strings of rigs coming in from the 

 surrounding country, loaded with crates of berries picked since 

 daylight. 



Strawberries are one of the quickest money crops. They 

 mature a crop fourteen months from planting, and this can be 

 sold for cash. It costs so little to plant a field that no farmer 

 is too poor to do it. They will grow anywhere, in nearly any 

 soil, except clean white sand or soggy clay. The fields in north- 

 ern Canada and in Florida and Texas seem to thrive about as 

 well as those in Maryland or Missouri. There are varieties 

 for every purpose, bearing firm berries and soft berries, ripening 

 early and late. They can be depended upon for profit, and for 

 the specialist they offer most attractive opportunities. 



"S 



