OUR COIESPONDENCE SCHOOL Yf%|)^ 



WHERE THE MEMBERS OF THE 

 SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR 

 IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET 



PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT 

 PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE 

 OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION 



RECENTLY a strawberry grower 

 from a neighboring state visited the 

 home of The Strawberry, and when 

 he came to leave after two days of inves- 

 tigation of the methods which are fol- 

 lowed here, he said: "This visit has 

 been worth thousands of dollars to me. 

 I have learned where my mistakes have 

 been made and how to correct them, and 

 I am coming again and bring my partner 

 with me. Every commercial strawberry 

 grower should come here and study your 

 work." 



All of our members cannot come to see 

 us; many of them are interested to know 

 just what to do and how and when to do 

 it to win the largest results. This de- 

 partment has been created that you may 

 have the advantages of a visitor. No 

 treatise on the strawberry ever written 

 has answered all the questions that come 

 to the man in the strawberry field as an 

 outcome of his daily experiences. There- 

 fore we have created this correspondence 

 school in order that every subscriber to 

 The Strawberry may come here and state 

 his problems and have our aid in solving 

 them. We are sure that all who have 

 read the questions and answers in the 

 January issue of The Strawberry, and all 

 who will read those which follow in the 

 present number, have found and will find 

 in them many points of interest and value; 

 suggestions that will aid them to meet 

 their own difficulties and perplexities. 



It is our desire to be able to help everj'- 

 one engaged in the growing of strawber- 

 ries, and this department is for you and 

 all others whose names are enrolled upon 

 the lists of The Strawberry. Don't hesi- 

 tate to ask questions; be assured that it is 

 our pleasure to answer them fully and 

 clearly; and be assured also that when you 

 ask a question for yourself you are asking 

 the same question for many another who 

 is seeking to solve the same problem that 

 has arisen to vex you. Let us have your 

 questions. 



M. C, Niota, 111. Should I set a new bed of 

 strawberry plants every spring? 



The only way to carry on a profitable 

 strawberry business is to set a field of 

 plants every spring. Let us suppose a 

 series of several years. In 1905 you set 

 out a field of two acres to strawberries. 

 In 1906 you repeat this in the spring and 

 later gather your crop from the first two 

 acres. In 1907 you set out two acres 

 more and gather the second crop from the 



1905 setting and the first crop from the 



1906 setting, making four acres of crop 



in all. This crop has exhausted the fi^st 

 setting (1905 patch), and you should pro- 

 ceed to mow ofl, burn over and plow and 

 plant the two acres set out in 1903 

 to some other crop, leaving four acres 

 for bearing the following summer. 

 In 1908 you will set two acres more, and 

 after fruiting time you will discard the 

 1906 patch and treat it as you did the 

 first one. And in the spring of 1999 the 

 first two acres is ready for resetting to 

 strawberries. Thus you will see that 

 with eight acres of land you may have an 

 unbroken succession of crops from four of 

 them, and preser^■e at the same time a 

 correct system of rotation — a system that 

 will keep your ground free from weeds, 

 seeds and fungous and insect pests. One 

 man can easily manage four acres and if 

 the work is done as it should be, these 

 four acres will yield a fine income — any- 

 where from $1500 to $2000 a year being 

 a modest estimate. 



P. R., North Bend, Ore. I notice after some 

 runners leave the mother plant there is a side 

 runner starts from them between the mother 

 plant and the first node. Does this lateral 

 runner make a good plant? 



Plants that come from laterals never 

 develop into heavy fruiters, and should be 

 removed before taking root, either in the 

 fruiting or the propagating bed. Permitting 

 them to grow is one reason for the run- 

 ning out of plants. This is one of the 

 prime objects of the breeding bed, from 

 which first-class plants always are to be 

 had for the fruiting bed. 



A. C. LD., Chenoa, 111. Will it injure my 

 strawberry plants if I mow them off, cover 

 the patch with straw and burn the patch over 

 as soon as it freezes up? I want to do this to 

 get rid of the leaf roller, of which I have quite 

 a few in my patch, and fear if I don't do 

 something of this kind they will take my 

 patch in the spring. 



To burn over the oed so late in the 

 fall would be taking too many chances. 

 Remember that at this time of the year 

 the fruit buds have formed and therefore 

 would be subject to injury, perhaps to 

 killing, by fire. It has been done without 

 injury; but the treatment is too extreme 

 for us to recommend. More than that, 

 the burning over at this time of year would 

 be no insurance against the leaf-roller, 

 which pupates from eggs deposited by a 

 small brown miller early in the spring as 

 well as later in the season, and which 



Pafie 43 



might come from another patch to yours. 

 However, burning after cropping is ef- 

 fective, as it destroys both broods. 



C. R., Brooklyn, N. Y. This season my 

 strawberry plants in my family garden were 

 attacked by an insect similar to a currant 

 worm, but somewhat smaller. All leaves 

 were eaten through, leaving them like a veil. 

 What is it, and what the remedy? 



The worm that is eating your plants is 

 called the saw fly. It is of grayish color, 

 works principally on the under or shady 

 side of the leaf, and curls up like a snail. 

 It belongs to the leaf-chewing species and 

 is easily gotten rid of by the use of Paris 

 green, sprayed immediately after they be- 

 gin working on the plants. The formula 

 for this spray is seven ounces of Paris 

 green, four pounds of unslaked lime; pour 

 over this enough water to cover entirely 

 and keep well stirred while slaking to 

 prevent burning. The lime will neutral- 

 ize the acid in the Paris green, thus pre- 

 venting the burning of foliage. Before 

 applying add sufficient water to make fifty 

 gallons of the mixture. Good spraying 

 machines may be had from any of the 

 companies advertising them in these 

 pages. 



I. H. T. , Hartford, N. C. I have a fine patch of 

 strawberry plants. Have kept them in single 

 hedge-rows, allowing the plants to set about 

 ten inches apart. They are perfectly clean of 

 weeds, and have made a fine growth. After 

 they started to grow I gave them a top-dress- 

 ing of manure. When shall I stop working 

 them? 2. When shall I manure them again? 

 3. If I mulch them, when should it be 

 done? 4. Should they be cultivated in spring 

 before fruiting time ? 



You are to be congratulated upon having 

 employed such fine cultural methods, 

 which never fail to produce just such re- 

 sults as you describe. As you say your 

 plants have made a large foliage growth 

 we should not cultivate them later than 

 September 1. By ceasing cultivation at 

 that time you will aid in checking vege- 

 tative growth and encourage the fruit- 

 producing powers of the plants. 



2. The manure you already have ap- 

 plied should be enough to feed the plants 

 through the first crop. After the berries 

 are harvested and the ground once culti- 

 vated you can then give them another 

 dressing of manure. 



3. Mulching in North Carolina may 

 be done during the winter, but some time 



