Work of the Horticultural Societies 



D 



ONE of the influences of far-reach- 

 ing power that are working for 

 the iiphft and advance of horti- 

 culture is to be found in the 

 horticultural societies of the several states. 

 These societies themselves steadily are 

 taking higher ground. They are attract- 

 ing, by their scientific and practical work, 

 the men and women of the country who 

 are doing things in a horticultural vvay, 

 and these in turn, by that 

 fine interplay of cause and ef- 

 fect under which effect be- 

 comes another cause, gives to 

 the societies new inspiration 

 and strength and wider and 

 deeper influence. 



In another place in this 

 issue we refer to the work go- 

 ing forward in the Minnesota 

 society — a society, by the 

 way, which has done more 

 than ever may be fidly under- 

 stood to de\elop the resources 

 of that state, once held to be 

 out of the zone of fruit pro- 

 duction. That its work is 

 but fairly begun, and that new 

 and undreamed triumphs are 

 before it, none who knows 

 the nature of the men who 

 are behind it doubts. 



The growing importance 

 of the strawberry may be seen 

 in the increased attention be- 

 ing given it by the state so- 

 cieties. In the Kansas meet- 

 ing recently held "The Ideal 

 Strawberry" was the theme of 

 a paper that evoked generous 

 discussion. The author, Mr. 

 Dixon, said that some of the 

 varieties now in cultivation 

 seem almost ideal, yet there is 

 none but could be improved 

 in some respect, either as a 

 fruitor plant. Muchdepends 

 upon one's location and the 

 weather conditions as to the 

 behavior of difFerent varieties. 

 Mr. Dixon's remark that he 

 used prairie hay as a mulch 

 and believed it the best to be 

 had, aroused some discussion, one mem- 

 ber declaring that he had used it, but 

 found the grass seed it contained against 

 it; his prairie hay mulch had seeded his 

 strawbern,' patch to prairie grass. 1 his 

 experience suggests the danger of using 

 anything in the strawberry patch that 

 contains many seeds. 



.'\nother member said that he had ex- 

 perimented with various things for mulch- 

 ing and believes that coarse stable manure 

 is about the best, but one must see to it 

 that prairie hay is fed to the animals and 

 rve straw is not u^ed for bedding. \Vhere 



timothy hay or red clover is fed, or 

 where rye straw is used for bedding, the 

 manure shoidd be avoided in a strawberry 

 patch. Someone asked how it would do 

 to allow crab grass to grow late in the sea- 

 son, to furnish a mulch, but Mr. McNal- 

 lie said that this plan will not do at all. 

 Crab grass in a strawberry bed is a dan- 

 gerous thing, and one who wants good 

 crops will keep his plants clean and apply 



Important Word From Secretary Hays 



URING a recent visit to Washington a representative of The 

 Strawberry called upon .'\ssistant Secretary Hays of the De- 

 partment of .Agrlcuhure and discussed with that oHicial the 

 lack of statistical information concerninfj strawberry production in 

 the United States, and the unscientific methods no"' followed in 

 marketing the crop, every year becoming more vast and more val- 

 uable. A few days later we received from Secretary Hays the 

 following: 



"In the past year the Department of Agriculture lias been investi- 

 gating the entire subject of agricultural statistics, both the Ameri- 

 can system and the organizations of this kind in Europe. Plans are 

 rapidly being inade in the development of impruv ed methods for 

 gathering statistics in each state and for assembling these into na- 

 tional figures showing the acreage, condition, production, etc. , of 

 non-perishable crops, as wheat, cotton, fiax, etc. 



"With the organization of state agencies, the securing of statistics 

 of such perishable products as strawberries, apples, vegetables, etc., 

 will be made much easier and more practicable than in the past. 

 Just how the statistical organization can be extended so as to be help- 

 ful to the producers, market interests and consumers of such perish- 

 able products as strawberries, has not yet been fully worked out. If 

 the energies and expenses of producers, dealers and transportation 

 companies now employed to distribute the products in the best man- 

 ner among the various niarkets could be merged, possibly under the 

 leadership of the (loverimient bureau, it might be that a system of 

 dailv telegrams in the busy season could be made very useful and 

 with but little added expense. 



"The Department is open to suggestions along this line, and ex- 

 pects to do some experimenting to see if these various agencies 

 cannot be so merged as to make feasible a general plan of statistics 

 of perishable products." 



With the assurance in advance of Mr. Hays' powerful aid, and 

 having in addition the knowledge that Secretary Wilson is thor- 

 oughly interested in the matter, the time appears to be ripe for a 

 movement all along the line hav ing for its object the initiation of 

 such a work as is here proposed. There is no doubt if the people 

 interested in commercial strawberry production were to ask Congress 

 to appropriate the necessary sum to carrv forward such a work as 

 Secretary Hays suggests in this note to The Strawberry, the response 

 would be immediate and generous. How great the results of such 

 a work might be is past estimate. May we not hear from every man 

 and woman who markets strawberries or truck of any kind, express- 

 ing willingness to cooperate with Secretary Hays in getting this de- 

 sirable undertaking luuler way.' 



berry beds can be kept for four or five 

 crops, provided the soil is good and the 

 work is well done. 



'Would you then plant strawberries 

 on this land again?" was asked. "If not, 

 how long would voii allow between 

 cropsr 



"I certainly would not plant strawber- 

 ries again on this soil, and would want 

 about five years between the crops. We 

 have tried to put strawberries 

 on the samesoil within shorter 

 time, but never have had good 

 success. We even have tried 

 the use of commercial fertil- 

 isers, to replace the elements 

 removed by the strawberry 

 crops, but could not succeed. 

 Other crops may follow 

 strawberries to advantage, 

 but I should allow at least 

 five years between two plant- 

 ings of strawberries. 



mulch material afterward; don't depend 

 upon Nature to grow a mulch over your 

 plants. 



.Asked to give his plan for renewing 

 strawberry beds after fruiting, one exper- 

 ienced grower said that as soon as the last 

 picking is made the plants should be 

 mowed; rake off the tops and cut down 

 the width of the rows. To do this re- 

 move some of the discs from a disc har- 

 row, and narrow the rows to eight or ten 

 inches width; then harrow across the 

 rows, and cultivate well throughout the 

 season. Handled in this way, stravv- 



MISSOURI strawberry 

 folk are a growing circle 

 of broad-guage people, and 

 the recent meeting of the 

 state society was unusually 

 interesting as to this element 

 in the program. Mr. R. F. 

 (jeorge of Pierce City, read 

 a strong paper on the subject, 

 in which he said he preferred 

 moderately rich, gravelly soil, 

 sloping east or southeast. 

 This slope especially for' 

 Aroma. Plow ground in late 

 fall or early winter and plant 

 early in the spring .so as to 

 get a good stand of plants. 

 Soil should be worked fine 

 and well packed so it wiU 

 settle close to the plant and 

 not dry out. Cultivation be- 

 gins soon after planting, go- 

 ing close to the plants at first, 

 afterwards farther away as : 

 row is formed, and keep up ' 

 the cultivation till frost stops 

 growth. Three fruiting sea- 

 sons is usually the limit for 

 one planting, and an acre 

 should produce from l.=>0 to 300 crates. 

 When it is Known that in 1905 there 

 were 1100 carloads of strawberries ship- 

 ped from that great berry district which 

 includes portions of southern Missouri 

 and northern Arkansas, from which the 

 net returns were $640,000, and that this 

 vast quantity must be marketed « ithin a 

 very brief space of time, it will be imder- 

 stood how great was the interest in the 

 paper read by G. T. Tippin on "How to 

 Pick and Handle Strawberries." Mr. 

 Tippin said that for distance shipments in 

 car lots most varieties should be at least 



