THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1906 



and just before a rain. This will dissolve 

 the soda and make it immediately avail- 

 able. The best time to apply it is in the 

 spring, just after you have parted the 

 mulch from over the rows, and do not use 

 more than fifty pounds to the acre. Re- 

 peat this just before the buds open. 



3. The number of boxes and crates 

 required will depend somewhat upon the 

 condition of the plants in your half-acre. 

 You say the plants are very thrifty, and 

 we should think it unsafe to order fewer 

 than 150 twenty-four quart crates and 

 boxes to match them. Never have crates 

 and boxes returned. Use only fresh, 

 clean and neat boxes and crates. These 

 aid greatly in the market. 



J. L. S. , Nelson, B. C. I have acquired a 

 very desirable piece of land and am at present 

 clearing about ten acres of small trees and 

 brush. The land has considerable slope to 

 the lake and a southern exposure, consequently 

 the sun strikes it at nearly right angles, caus- 

 ing it to mature crops from two to three 

 weeks earlier than does land on the opposite 

 side of the lake. What varieties of strawber- 

 ries would you advise me to set for market 

 purposes? 2. This land is virgin soil; am 

 now pulling the stumps; getting it ready for 

 the plants. Would you recommend nitrate of 

 soda as a dressing after plants are put in and 

 started growing? 



1. As your land has a southern expos- 

 ure, allowing the sun to shine upon it all 

 day, we would recommend early varieties 

 for the larger part, of which there are 

 many excellent varieties, such as Excel- 

 sior, August Luther, Climax, Texas and 

 Warfield. Following these would come 

 Parsons' Beauty, Senator Dunlap, Pride 

 of Michigan and Sample. 



2. Virgin soil of the kind you describe 

 should contain sufficient nitrogeiious plant 

 food to develop an abundance of vegeta- 

 tative growth without the assistance of any 

 stimulant, and that is the function of the 

 nitrates. 



H. E. C, Harrisbiirg, Pa. I intend to resign 

 my position with a large furnace company 

 and engage in fruit culture. I have 200 acres 

 of fine limestone land, rollingand well drained, 

 nine miles from this city, and can ship to both 

 Harrisburg and Philadelphia. Desire to start 

 strawberry growing on a small scale, increas- 

 ing as fast as the profits justify. Please give 

 me your opinion as to the best varieties to set. 



Your land certainly is well situated for 

 a fruit farm, both as to market location 

 and quality of soil. If you follow proper 

 methods we predict that strawberries will 

 become the leading product of the place, 

 because the demand for fancy strawberries 

 is unlimited and from no other line of 

 horticulture can you realize such large 

 returns in so short a time. We enjoy 

 nothing more than to aid a beginner to 



start right and then watch him grow! 

 As to varieties, we can give you no bet- 

 ter advice than to suggest that you set one 

 or two varieties representing each season — 

 extra early, early, medium and late. 

 Then at fruiting time you may watch each 

 variety closely and thus discover the best 

 varieties for your particular soil and market. 



C. E. F. , Newcastle, Calif. Will you please 

 advise me concerning the weight of strawberry 

 plants? 



Strawberry plants weigh from twenty- 

 five to thirty-five pounds per thousand 

 plants, packed ready for shipment. Ex- 

 press companies quote a special rate on 

 strawberry plants of 20 per cent under 

 regular merchandise. 



Mrs. G. C. J., Detroit, Mich. I have pinched 

 all the bud blossoms from my plants, also all 

 the runners but two on each side of the mother 

 plant. Now those runners have made new 

 plants. Should I cut this runner wire to pre- 

 vent weakening of the mother plant, which I 

 want to bear next year? Could they not be 

 severed and set out in a new bed next spring? 



You have greatly increased the fruiting 

 power of your plants by removing the 

 first buds and allowing few runners to set. 



It will not be necessary to cut the runner 

 wire that connects the young plant to its 

 mother, as they cease to draw nourish- 

 ment from the mother after they get their 

 own roots established in the soil. Nature 

 has provided a way for lessening the 

 strain on the mother plant by drying up 

 the runner wire. They should not be re- 

 moved at all, but left where they are, and 

 they will produce fruit the same as does 

 the mother plant. They are also the 

 ones you will leave in order to get a sec- 

 ond crop from this patch. 



E. W. McF., West Salem, Ohio. I have 

 about one acre of strawberry plants that were 

 set out last September by the former owner 

 of the place. Many of them failed to grow. 

 May the remainder be successfully transplanted 

 to another part of the field, and if so, when 

 will be the best time to do the work — fall or 

 spring? 2. Would a top-dressing of barn- 

 yard manure put on late in the fall be of bene- 

 fit to the plants? 



Your experience with fall-set plants 

 only confirms our oft-expressed views as 

 to the season for plant-setting. In the 

 fall the plants are building up their fruit- 

 bud system, and this is the very moment 

 of their lives when they should remain un- 

 disturbed. To disturb them then gives 

 them a serious setback if it does not ac- 



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