238 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



November, 1909 



The Protection of Strawberries 



Brenda E. Neville, Cottonwood, Saskatchewan 



STRAWBERRY culture is in its in- 

 July mine was the only exhibit of 

 fancy in Saslcatchewan. Only last 

 strawberries shown at Regina. I stood 

 near the small fruit exhibits, and listened 

 to comments. Many people passing the 

 strawberries remarked: "Of course such 

 fruits cannot be grown here ; they are im- 

 ported. " Such is the opinion of the 

 majority. Only a few people know that, 

 every farm garden might have its straw- 

 berries as well as cabbages. 



Strawberries should be set in spring, 

 to allow them the most time possible to 

 become well rooted before winter. The 

 greatest difficulty we have to contend 

 with is dry weather, in the fruiting sea- 

 son, and in the fall. 



During the summer the greatest care 

 should be used to prevent any exposure 

 of the crowns of the plants to the hot 

 dry winds. Cultivation should be kept 

 up all summer, but the soil should not be 

 stirred to any depth after August. 



If the fall season is very dry, a little 

 artificial watering will help. The water 

 should be given in the evening, and the 

 ground thoroughly soaked, not just 

 sprinkled. About a day and a half after 

 the watering, cultivate on the surface. It 

 will be beneficial to water in this way 

 once a week till the ground commences 

 to freeze hard at night. 



MULCHING 



As soon as the ground freezes well, so 

 that it does not soften through the day, 

 a light, loose covering of clean wheat 

 straw should be applied. Do not make 

 the covering very deep at first. Wait 

 for a good fall of snow. When that has 

 settled and become a little hard with a 

 few "40 below" nights, then put on a 

 covering fully ten inches deep of more 

 wheat straw. If it is hard to keep the 

 straw from blowing away, spread a lit- 

 tle brush over it. 



It is not the cold in winter that kills 

 strawberries. It is the alternate freezing 

 and thawing in spring that does the 

 harm. Therefore, do not remove the 

 strawberry covering too early in spring. 

 It will be late in the spring, perhaps 

 well on in May, before the ice is melted 

 underneath the straw. Feel under the 

 straw once in a while, and as long as ice 

 remains or the ground is frozen, leave 

 the straw alone. When the ground 

 finally thaws out, remove the straw very 

 gradually. Separate it over the plants 

 first to . let in the air. Quite a lot of 

 straw may be left between the rows un- 

 til after the fruit ripens. It keeps the 

 fruit clean, and shelters the plants from 

 the winds. 



As spring frosts are prevalent here, 

 rather late varieties of strawberries 

 should be chosen, so that they will not 

 bloom before the damage of frosts is 



over. Senator Dunlop and Hederwood 

 are two of the best for our climate. 



Pall Cultivation 



R. W. Starr, WolfviUe, N. S. 



I have been advocating for many 

 years the system of fall cultivation of 

 orchards, believing it to be the best 

 method. I will give a few reasons why 

 orchards should be cultivated and fertil- 

 ized in the autumn, wherever possible. 



By plowing say five or six inches deep 

 after the leaves have fallen and harrow- 

 ing to a fine tilth you have an "earth 

 dust mulch," which is one of the best 

 protections from frost. You will have 

 buried all the spores of the black-spot 

 which may be deposited on the leaves, 

 which is undoubtedly the main source 

 of propagation in the 

 spring. You will also 

 have disturbed, and 

 buried deeper, any co- 

 coons of canker worms, 

 codling moth and oth- 

 er insect pests that 

 may harbor on or near 

 the surface soil. And 

 you will have placed 

 the cover-crop or other 

 vegetation, with the 

 leaves, where it will be 

 converted into plant 

 food, and made ready 

 for the early growth of 

 the trees in the spring. 



If you apply such fer- 

 tilizers as barnyard 

 manure, ground bone, 

 muriate of potash, or 

 others of those partial- 

 ly insoluble commercial 

 manures and harrow in, you will assist 

 nature to provide the trees with an 

 early spring breakfast and enable them 

 to commence the season with vigor and 

 pass the period of what is sometimes 

 excessive, blom, without the exhaustion 

 that we frequently observe, and that is 

 followed by failure to set fruit, or by ex- 

 cessive dropping after it is set. 



If this system is propefly tarried out 

 in the fall, the disk is all that is re- 

 quired in the spring to get a mellow sur- 

 face, and if it or the harrow are used, 

 say, once a week to conserve the mois- 

 ture, until the time has arrived to sow 

 the cover crop, the orchardist may con- 

 gratulate himself when the latter is in 

 that his work for the season, so far as 

 cultivation is called for, is done. 



As there can be no rule without excep- 

 tions, it may be found practicable to fol- 

 low this system on side hills or where 

 the soil v/ashes badly in the winter. 

 There you may have to leave the cover 

 crop to bind the soil until spring ; if so, 



then do your cultivating and manuring 

 at the earliest possible date, for it is 

 the early and vigorous growth in thi' 

 spring, and the mature, well ripened 

 wood and buds in the fall, that ensures 

 the health of our fruit trees through 

 .our changeable winter weather. 



A Terraced Peach Orchard 



liditor, The Canadian Horticllti k- 

 IST': It has been stated that an amateur 

 should not attempt fruit growing until 

 he has gained some experience. It may 

 be of interest, therefore, to some of your 

 readers to know that, coming from Cen- 

 tral Africa where I was engaged in an 

 entirely different occupation, I have, as 

 the accompanying illustration shows, so 

 far made a good start. 



In this orchard there are 1,500 pcacli 

 trees Isesides apple, cherry, plum and 

 pear trees. The terraces shown are each 

 990 feet in length. The peach trees are 



A Twentjr-acre Orchard, Peachland, British Colambia 



Note ',he ttr.aced hnisido. 



eighteen feet apart and the terraces arc 

 the same in width. The trees are planted 

 in the middle of the terraces. The lower 

 side of each terrace is planted in lucerne ; 

 only the top side is cultivated, being 

 frequently harrowed and also plowed 

 twice a year. For this purpose, I find 

 the spring-tooth harrow far better than 

 any other implement. It cultivates deep- 

 er than others and will stand very rough 

 work. 



The terraces were made because the 

 hill was too steep to work. They face the 

 east and get the early morning sun and 

 warmth. Terracing means good drain- 

 age ; also, the snow collects there and 

 does not drift away. 



The trees have done remarkably well,_ 

 many showing over six feet of growt 

 for the past season. This I attribute 

 constant cultivation. The trees were l| 

 rigated only once during the year. I 

 lieve in severe pruning to make a tre 

 strong enough eventually to yield tweil 

 ty boxes of fruit. 



