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CULTIVATING NEWLY-SET PLANTS ON A COMMERCIAL STRAWBHRRY FARM 



Springtime Strawberry Suggestions 



SPRING is here, and it is but a short 

 time before ail strawberry growers 

 will be deep in the problems of 

 marketing their crops. We do not 

 know but the best thing to do is to take 

 a "nerve tonic sufficiently strong to give 

 you courage to stand up for your rights 

 and compel a high enough price for your 

 fruit to give you a fair profit for your 

 year's work. We don't believe in asking 

 too high a price, but on the other hand 

 you have a right to get a fair return for 

 all that you have done, and something 

 over as a nest egg. 



However, you have your responsibilities, 

 and among the first to be considered is 

 this: The production of such fine ber- 

 ries, so tastefully packed in boxes so gen- 

 erously filled as to merit the good will of 

 everybody and make them willing, a\e, 

 glad, to pay the top market prices for 

 your product. 



MUCH depends on setting some vari- 

 eties on certain grades of soil to in- 

 sure best results. For instance, if low, 

 damp soil, it should be set to late vari- 

 eties. It would not be safe to set the ex- 

 tra-early kinds here, because they would 

 bloom so early that there would be some 

 danger of frost injuring the crop. Most 

 any variety will do equally well on level 

 or high land. 



For a piece of land sloping to the 

 south, extra-early varieties would be most 

 profitable, as the sun would strike it most 

 of the time and would force the berries 

 to mature for extra-early market. A 

 northern slope will retard ripening and 

 should be set to late varieties to catch the 

 late market. 



TN some seasons, climatic conditions 

 ■^ are not entirely favorable to plant 

 growth, and the plants will lag or become 

 inactive. When this occurs, the best 

 thing to do is to double up on your cul- 

 tural methods, like the doctor does with 



a patient; if one pill won't do, gi\'e him 

 two. There is nothing that will boost a 

 plant like judicious cultivation — getting 

 between the rows with a five shovel cul- 

 tivator, and dig- 

 ging down deep; 

 also hoe deep in 

 the row between 

 the plants, and 

 let no crust form 

 about the plants. 

 If this method 

 is followed, you 

 soon will notice 

 a great change 

 in the color of 

 the foliage as 





lJOEING is easy if the hoeman practices 

 standing in an easy position. Do not stoop 

 over and hack the soil, but stand erect, place the 

 blade of the hoe about three feet ahead of you, 

 then press down li^litly with left hand, or which- 

 ever liand you l^cep forward on the handle; now 

 draw it through the soil toward you and the soil 

 will fall back over the Made into the cut, leaving a 

 perfect mulch. When ^\ orking near the plant, give 

 the hoe a circular motion, and cut around plants 

 close to the crown, but do not go more than half 

 an inch deep around the plant. Merely cut the 

 crust. You may hoe deeper in dry weather than 

 when it is wet, because the roots go deeper, 

 searcning for moisture, while in wet seasons the 

 feeding roots work nearer the surface, as the 

 soil there is more easily penetrated. 



well as in the growth of plants. Cul- 

 tivation opens up the pores of the soil 



P»«e 75 



and arouses the bacterial germs to greater 

 activity. 



If this does not start the plants to mov- 

 ing, there must be some enemy feeding 

 upon the roots. This generally may be 

 discovered by digging the plant up and 

 making close examination; but in nine 

 cases out of ten, the inertia of the plant is 

 due to inactivity of bacteria, and all that 

 is necessary is to exercise the soil, which 

 will assist the digesti\e organs, so that the 

 soil will give up its supply of plant food. 



'I he trouble with some growers is that 

 they give up too easily. If the plants do 

 not start off with a jump, they stop work- 

 ing them, laying the blame to poor plants. 

 We have in mind a certain individual in 

 this state who sued an Eastern nursery- 

 man for damages because his plants did 

 not produce a big yield of choice berries. 

 When on the witness stand he was asked 

 if the plants had been given good care. 

 His reply was: ^'es, sir, I cultivated 

 them twice and hoed them once." It is 

 needless to say that the jury, which was 

 made up of twelve good farmers, did not 

 give this fellow damages. Strawberry 

 plants that innocently fall into such un- 

 appreciative hands as this • have our 

 sympathy. 



STRA\VBERRIES never should be 

 picked when wet with dew if they 

 are to be shipped or held any length of 

 time before used. Berries picked when 

 perfectly dry will hold up and keep their 

 natural color much longer than if picked 

 when the dew is yet on them. If you 

 would get your fruit on the early market, 

 they should be picked, packed and crated 

 late in the afternoon, and then stored in a 

 dr>', cool place until morning. The 

 crates should be covered so as to keep 

 the air from coming into direct contact 

 with the berries. If berries are picked 

 when the vines are wet with dew, they 

 will mould and sour within a few hours, 

 and the fruit will not retain the bright 



