-6- 



Shade Trees and Related Municipal Problems information available through 



staffs of the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, 

 (especially the Shade Tree Laboratory) or entomologists at 

 Waltham Field Station, particularly C. S. Chater. 



Structural and Other Home and Home Grounds Pest Problems joint responsibility 



of staffs in entomology at Amherst, Waltham and East Wareham. 



E. H. Wheeler will assist the general coordination of the program 



where helpful. 



---£. H. Wheeler 



Professor of Entomology 



I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 



STRAWBERRY PLANTING TIME 



It will soon be time to plant many things including strawberries. The 

 standard practice in New England has been and still is to dig and set the plants 

 as early in the spring as the soil can be worked. Delaying the planting almost 

 always results in a reduced crop no matter how carefully the plants are handled. 

 Even if they are dug in very early spring and held in cold storage, the later 

 the plants are set, the smaller the crop. 



Since not enough strawberries are raised in New England to satisfy the 

 demand, many plants have been shipped in from southern nurseries. In the past, 

 this has often been unsatisfactory because growth often starts before or during 

 shipment and all too frequently arrived in very poor condition. These shipping and 

 storage problems plagued the nurserymen who produced the plants as well as the 

 growers who purchased them. Often heavy losses were incurred because of 

 deterioration of plants in storage. Fortunately, new methods for packing and 

 storing strawberry plants are not only bringing solutions to these old problems 

 but also opening up possibilities for solutions to other problems in strawberry 

 growing. 



The first change in strawberry plant storage methods was brought about by 

 the Introduction of polyethylene film. This film is somewhat permeable to gases 

 but not to water. This meant that carbon dioxide could diffuse out of a package 

 surrounded by this material and oxygen could pass in but water would be retained. 

 Therefore, plants could be packed in "poly" bags or crates lined with "poly" film 

 without the usual damp sphagnum or other moist material. This partly solved the 

 plant storage problem by providing vastly improved moisture control. 



The second change was initiated by the discovery that dormant strawberry 

 plants can be stored at below freezing temperatures. If the plants are fully 

 dormant when dug, they can be stored at SG^F for several months without Injury. 

 If the temperature rises above freezing, molds are likely to develop. If it drops 

 below 28°F, the crowns may be injured by cold. 



