OUR COMSPONDENCE SCH00L|23L0F STRAWBERRY CULTURE 



WHERE THE ZvIEMBERS OF THE 

 SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR 

 IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET 



PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT 

 PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE 

 OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION 



NOTHING else so heartens one, 

 so inspires him to his best, as 

 to feel that his efforts are appre- 

 ciated and are accomplishing 

 beneficial results. We had expected 

 much from this Correspondence School 

 department because we knew of the 

 problems and perplexities that the straw- 

 berry grower is compelled to meet and 

 solve, and how helpful these queries and 

 answers would be, but that the work 

 should so soon have captured the atten- 

 tion of our readers; so quickly have met 

 their warm and cordial approval, we 

 scarcely had dared to hope. But from 

 iMonadnock to the Sierras and from the 

 land of the Scuppernong to Snohomish 

 have come to us such letters as "warm 

 the cockles of the heart," arid we reprint 

 some of the words written us, partly as 

 matter of pride and satisfaction, and 

 partly because they contain of themselves 

 matter of value. 



This from a subscriber who went to 

 the great fir-tree country of Washington 

 and carved a strawberry patch out of the 

 monster forests of the great North land: 



Snohomish, Wash., Jan. 17, 1906. 

 1 have been reading The Strawberry — Vol. I, 

 No. 1 — and I surely got ,$5 worth out of. the 

 Correspondence School. Now when I can cap- 

 ture so good a thing as The Strawberry for $4 

 less than nothing a year, and you pay the post- 

 age, I won't let it escape; so here's a P. O. 

 M. O. for .$1 for subscription. 



Wm. L. Cochran. 



Here is a word from a California sub- 

 scriber that will be read with interest: 



Ahwahnee, Calif., Jan. 17, 1906. 



The Strawberry received, and I am very 

 much pleased with it; the one issue is worth 

 more than the price of a year's subscription. 

 One gathers so much information from the 

 Questions and Answers, as it places the culti- 

 vation of the strawberry under so many differ- 

 ent conditions. One must have very peculiar 

 conditions, indeed, if some of them are not sim- 

 ilar to his own. 



I am growing strawberries in the Sierra Ne- 

 vada Mountains on the stage line to the Yo- 

 semite Valley and at an altitude of 6,000 feet 

 abo\'e sea level. Our summers are very nice, 

 as we are in the midst of a dense forest of pines, 

 firs, cedars, and the mammoth trees of Cali- 

 fornia — the Sequoia Gigantea. The deciduous 

 trees are the black oak and the dogwood. . . 

 My berry vines are mostly on sub-irrigated 

 ground, and I have been troubled not a little 

 with the end of the berry next to the ground 

 rotting; and as many of them measure from five 

 to five and a half inches in circumference, it 

 makes a considerable loss in the season's crop. 



It is well enough to say right here that we 

 have from five to twehe feet of snow here on 

 the level — that the ground never freezes and 



tnr sno .• often 'ies on the ground into May. 

 Before the grc nd gets settled and fit to work 

 the strawhcr'y plants have made a considerable 

 growt^ and are in b'oom. A good mulch is 

 what I have been in need of, but as hay is $30 

 per ton and straw in proportion, and as I did 

 not require to mulch as a winter covering, I 

 thought it too expensive. But your article in 

 the January issue on "Mulches and Mulching" 

 has put me right, as there is a limitless quantity 

 of pine needles in the ne.irby woods, and when 

 the snow disappears shall try a carpet of nice 

 clean needles for a resting place for the big 

 beauties. Enclosed please find check; kindly 

 book me for a year, ami I will carefully read 

 each issue and wait anxiously for the coming of 

 the next. W. H. Chaffee. 



C. A., Litchfield, III.— In the spring of 1905 I 

 set a small patch of strawberry plants. I 

 started to handle these under the single-hedge 

 system. After layering one runner each way 

 from each mother plant, all other runners 

 were kept off until about August 1. After 

 this date, owing to sickness, these plants 

 were neglected, and runners thickly matted 

 all over the ground. Now what is the best 

 thing to do with these surplus nmners.' 



You certainly started out all right; it is 

 unfortunate that illness prevented you 

 from carrying out your plans. It will 

 not do to dig the stirplus plants now, 

 as to do so would disturb the roots of 

 those which are left for fruiting. Inas- 

 much as you kept all runners off until 

 the 1st of August, there is no doubt the 

 mother plants are extra strong, and the 

 two plants layered before the surplus 

 plants began to develop have built up 

 large crowns. If your patch is a small 

 one, you may take a sharp hoe and shave 

 off the extra runners just below the sur- 

 face. This will not interfere with the 

 fruiting plants and will increase the crop 

 by giving the sun and air free access to 

 the remaining plants. Of course, the 

 same plan might be followed with a large 

 patch, but it would be rather a tedious 

 job. 



A. L. M., Earl, Wis. I intend to set out one 

 acre of strawberries in May, and would like 

 your advice as to the best berry I can set. I 

 am within forty miles of Lake Superior and 

 subject to frosts in June. The land is quite 

 high and sandy, but new and fertile. 



As you are in the Lake Superior region 

 we should advise you to set only of late 

 varieties. One reason for this is that 

 these varieties bloom late and therefore 

 there is less danger from frost. Another 

 reason is that straw berry growers in your 



Page 67 



localii;- may create an independent market 

 by growing high-grade late strawberries. 

 By using late varieties you should be able 

 to send berries into Duluth, Superior, St. 

 Paul and Minneapolis markets three 

 weeks later than those which come to 

 them from sections further south. 



E. D. M., Colfax, Calif.— I would like to have 

 your opinion about fertilizing strawberries 

 with a mixture of lime-kiln ashes. I have 

 three acres of very fine plants; have fertilized 

 well with stable manure. Please advise me 

 as to the best fertilizer to use next spring. 



We assume that these ashes are from 

 the wood used in burning lime. This 

 being the case, you may safely apply 

 from forty to fifty bushels to the acre. 

 The proper way to do this is to distribute 

 them evenly over the surface of the soil 

 after it is broken up. This may be done 

 with the shovel if care be exercised, or 

 may be applied through the fertilizing 

 section of a grain drill. Work these 

 ashes thoroughly into the soil with har- 

 row or disc before setting plants. Ashes 

 are good for the strawberry because they 

 contain from 30 to 32 per cent of lime, 

 which sweetens the soil and makes the 

 locked-up plant food in the soil available. 

 They also contain enough potash to give 

 a high color to the fruit. However, if 

 used excessively ashes will give the berry 

 a somewhat dull appearance. As yoii 

 have used manure liberally it will be un- 

 necessary to use any other fertilizer. 



G. E. H., Middleburg, Pa.— I would like to 

 know how long strawberry plants are to be 

 worked in the fall, and how long the runners 

 are to be kept off? Some fruits, if worked too 

 late in the season, will not bear fruit the next 

 year on this account. I have a nice patch of 

 strawberry plants, and I would not like to 

 spoil them by doing something that would 

 ruin the prospects for berries in the spring. 

 2. I am doing some transplanting where 

 there are some weak plants, and would like 

 to know if it is better to leave a weak plant, 

 or would it be better to replace it with a 

 strong one at this time.' 



The length of time plants are to be 

 worked in the fall will depend somewhat 

 upon the habit of the variety. If the 

 varieties you are growing are of the large- 

 foliage type, with an upright growth, we 

 would discontinue cultivation September 

 1, doing no work among them except to 

 keep down weeds, if there be any. But 

 if the varieties have a scant foliage, con- 



