THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1906 



leaves of plants and trees are organs that 

 resemble the e5'es of animals. 



Dr. Conrad for some time has been 

 making studies in this line. In one lab- 

 oratory the work was being done upon 

 the power of plants to see. There were 

 placed in the window a number of plants 

 of the bean family, which are the best lo- 

 cal examples of this strange perception in 

 the vegetable kingdom. Those of the 

 plants which were in the full blaze of the 

 sun had the edges of tlie leaves turned 

 toward the sun, so as to escape too great 

 an amount of sunlight. Those that were 

 in the shade turned their leaves back close 

 to the stem. In the morning at the first 

 appearance of light they began to resume 

 their natural position, and by sun-up they 

 were fully extended. 



In another laboratory Dr. Conrad had 

 some flat beans planted in moss which 

 had put out long roots. One of the 

 roots was pulled from the moss and the 

 end of it cut off. The cells became dis- 

 placed and the injured root behaved ex- 

 actly as the limb of an animal would 

 when injured. 



The sundew, a plant which grows in 

 the swamps about Baltimore, probably 

 shows the sense of taste to a greater ex- 

 tent than any other. 



"With a single exception," says Dr. 

 Conrad, "they can recognize light and 

 the direction from which it comes; they 

 feel the slightest wound, they discrimi- 

 nate in taste, they have a sense of direc- 

 tion whether they are turned in the right 

 direction or not, and are influenced by 

 electric currents passing near them." 



^ '^ 

 One Beginner's Experience 



By W. H. Rogers 



I AM only a beginner in strawberry 

 growing, last year being my first crop. 

 I do not think I have had large suc- 

 cess as yet, but I intend to keep at it un- 

 til I do. In the spring of 1904 I bought 

 3,000 thoroughbred pedigree plants, from 

 which I picked 2,240 baskets of berries 

 in 1905, and I think, had the season been 

 favorable, I should have had double that 

 quantity. We had continuous rains and 

 muggy weather for more than a week at 

 the height of the season, and the berries 

 rotted on the vines instead of ripening. 



Just when the first berries were ripen- 

 ing a berry grower came to my place and 

 after looking it over declared it was the 

 finest prospect for a big crop he ever saw, 

 and he had been in the business for ten 

 years. I counted 223 berries on a single 

 plant at one time, but a great many of 

 them fell off before they got ripe because 

 of the bad weather. 



My plot last year was eight rods wide 

 by eleven rods long. On this I spread 

 twenty-five two-horse wagon loads of 

 manure before setting out the plants and 

 scattered eight hundred pounds of com- 



mercial fertilizer. I follow the hedge- 

 row system of cultivation, with rows three 

 feet apart. I found that Tennessee Pro- 

 lific, Warfield and Kansas gave best yield, 

 Michel's Early grew immense vines, but 

 did not yield many berries. I sold direct 

 to consumers and gave good satisfaction, 

 quite a number requesting me to be sure 

 to call again next season. 



This year I shall have eleven by sev- 

 enteen rods in my patch. The vines are 

 looking fine, and I hope for better results 

 this year than last. I have seventeen 

 varieties to fruit this year. I am experi- 

 menting, and when I find out what suits 

 my soil and trade best, I intend to make 

 strawberry growing my whole business. 

 At some future time, after I get some ex- 

 perience, I may be able to write you 

 something of interest to strawberry 

 growers. 



I mulch my berries, using buckwheat 

 straw, which I can buy cheaper than 

 other straw, and I find it lays on better. 

 We have had no snow here yet this win- 

 ter and very little frost. From my ex- 

 perience last winter I consider it best to 

 mulch early — as soon as the ground be- 

 gins to freeze at all hard. 



I was delighted when I learned that 

 you intended publishing The Strawberry, 

 and now that I have seen the initial num- 

 ber I am more than ever pleased. I 

 think it is just what strawberry growers 

 need. 



Cobourg, Onl., Jan. 30, 1906. 



Our correspondent certainly has every 

 reason to be proud of his success, consid- 

 ering the conditions under which his crop 

 was matured, and with the knowledge 

 that experience brings to the intelligent 

 and observing grower, he is sure to be- 

 come a leader in his work. We are very 

 sure that already he has had many inter- 

 esting and suggestive things to tell Straw- 

 berry readers. Regarding the heavy fol- 

 iage and small fruit yield of the Michel's 

 Early: It is the nature of that variety to 

 develop heavy vegetative growth if over- 

 stimulated, and the amount of manure and 

 commercial fertilizer used by Mr. Rogers 

 was excessive for that variety. It is in 

 just such cases that the judgment of the 

 grower must come into play, and when he 

 observes that one variety does well, while 

 another does poorly, under certain condi- 

 tions, he may at once understand that the 

 two are of different habits of growth and 

 require different treatment. Michel's 

 Early should not have been given such 

 superabundance of plant food; the other 

 varieties named thrived under its influ- 

 ence. However, having the plant food 

 in the soil, had our correspondent ceased 

 cultivadng the Michel eariier than he did 

 in the case of the other varieties, he 

 would have greatly aided the fruiting 

 power of the Michel. The particular 

 attention given to individual varieties — 

 the knowing of the nature of the several 

 varieties and how to meet their peculiar 



requirements — constitutes an important 

 element in sucessful strawberry produc- 

 tion. — Editor The Strawberry. 



<<i3^ 



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