STRAWBERRY 



STRAWBERRY 



1743 



In addition to supplying the home markets, which are 

 very good, California Strawberry-growers find a good 

 outlet for the fruit all through the region west of the 

 Missouri river. Southern California supplies the south- 

 ern portion of this district, while the growers in central 

 California, chiefly near Florin in Sacramento county, 

 make large shipments eastward as far as Colorado and 



># 



2430. The forcing of Strawberries under gl; 



northward to all the great interior states and to Oregon, 

 Washington and British Columbia before the locally 

 grown fruit in those regions is available. 



The states of Oregon and Washington in their areas 

 lying west of the Cascade mountains have conditions 

 excellently suited to the growth of the Strawberry. 

 Their conditions more nearly resemble those in the east- 

 ern states than any other part of the coast. The cooler 

 weather and more abundant moisture give a better 

 spring season than that of California, but the season is 

 on the whole much shorter because of the longer winter. 

 Irrigation is also necessary in most places for continued 

 fruiting during the summer. The most famous district 

 is Hood River, Oregon, where arid conditions east of 

 the Cascade mountains are modified by western influ- 

 ences which reach through the gap in these mountains 

 where the Columbia river flows through. Irrigation is 

 regularly employed and a large commercial product 

 grown. The varieties chiefly grown in this region and 

 in adjacent parts of Washington and Idaho are of local 

 origin, the Hood River (Clark Seedling) and Magoon 

 Seedling being widely approved. Jessie, Sharpjess, 

 Wilson, Haverland, Crescent, Cumberland, Jucundaand 

 Parker Earle are also commended by growers in the 

 northwestern states. E.J.Wickson. 



The Forcing of Strawberries for a Winter Crop has 

 not as yet become of any great commercial impor- 

 tance in North America. Some gardeners grow a few 

 potted plants for either Christmas or Easter decoration. 

 Very few, if any, commercial growers are forcing 

 Strawberries exclusively to any profitable extent. The 

 few Strawberries that are forced are grown either in 

 pots or planted out on benches. The former method is 

 the one generally employed. There are several good 

 reasons for this, some of which are: first, the confine- 

 ment of the roots ; second, the ability to ripen the 

 crowns in the fall; third, the control of fertilizers and 

 liquid manure; fourth, the privilege of having the crop 

 grown in several houses at one time or brought from a 

 coolhouse into heat; and fifth, the opportunity to sup- 

 ply particular demand of the potted plants or their 

 fruits. The first expense of the pot method is consid- 

 erably more than when the plants are grown in the 

 benches, but after the pots are once purchased the cost 

 of each method should be about the same. 



The pot method as practiced at Cornell University is 

 about as follows: As early in the spring as possible 

 large plants are set in well - enriched soil. The first 

 strong runners made by these plants are secured and 



110 



potted. Numerous 2- or 3-inch pots filled with good 

 soil are plunged to the rim along the Strawberry row. 

 The runners are trained to these pots, and a small stone 

 is placed on each runner to keep it from growing be- 

 yond the pot. When the pot is filled with roots the 

 young plant is cut from the parent stock, the pots lifted 

 and taken to the potting shed or other convenient place, 

 where they are at once shifted into the fruit- 

 ing pots (usually a 6-inch pot). The soil used 

 at this time should be three parts fibrous loam 

 and one of good sharp sand. This potting 

 soil should have mixed with it bone-flour or 

 dissolved rock at the rate of about one pint 

 to two bushels of soil. Ample drainage 

 should be given, as through the season of 

 ripening the crowns and the following forcing 

 period a large quantity of water must be given 

 and none should be allowed to stand around 

 the roots. 



The pots should then be plunged to near 

 the rim in some coarse material, preferably 

 coal ashes, which, if deep enough to extend 

 from four to six inches below the plunged 

 pots, will prevent the earthworms from en- 

 tering the pots. The use of a frame in 

 which to plunge the pots is recommended 

 for protection against heavy rains or early 

 frosts. Attention to watering is all that will 

 be necessary through the growing season. 

 Late in September or early in October the 

 pots will be filled with roots and the plants 

 will have attained their full growth. At this 

 time larger and firmer crowns will be had by 

 careful attention to watering and subsequent 

 drying off to almost the wilting stage than by watering 

 the plants up to the time of freezing weather. The dry- 

 ing process seems to represent the late fall season and 

 causes the plant to store up material in the crowns at 

 an earlier period. At the coming of cold weather the 

 soil in the pots may be allowed to freeze. It is very de- 

 sirable that the soil be on the dry side before freezing, 

 for if the ball of earth is wet there is danger of break- 

 ing the pots when the cold becomes intense. The period 

 of forcing from the time the frozen plants are brought 

 in until the ripening of the fruits will be about eight 

 weeks. The time will vary slightly under different con- 

 ditions of heat and sunlight. When first brought in, the 

 plants should be cleaned of all dead or diseased leaves. 

 The pots should be plunged to near the rim in some 

 material that will retain moisture, e. g., tan bark or 

 coal ashes. The benches or shelves should be as near 

 the glass as convenient. A thorough spraying with 



2431. A good winter Strawberry plant in bloom. 



Bordeaux mixture or some other fungicide should be 

 made at once. For the first few days the house should 

 be held at about 35°, with little if any rise through the 

 day. After a week a rise of 10° may be given. At the 

 end of the second week 50° at night, with a rise of 10- 

 15° through the day, will be about right. 



